Drunk on You
by robinsparkles14
Summary: Belle French is the gorgeous new bartender at Pongo's bar. She perfect in every way. Well, except her rather inappropriate crush on Mr. Gold...Rumbelle AU, set in modern day NYC.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Drunk on You

**Author: **Robinsparkles14 ( , tumblr, fanpop)

**Fandom: **Once Upon a Time

**Pairing: **Rumbelle, also some Red-Cricket, and EmmaxBaelfire is implied.

**Rating: **T for some language and some suggestive content. Nothing serious at the moment, though.

**Summary: **AU, set in modern day NYC. Belle French is the sexy new bartender at Pongo's bar. She's beautiful, amazing, and everything anyone would ever want. Well, except for her rather inappropriate crush on Mr. Gold...

**Disclaimer: **I definitely don't own "Once Upon a Time." All the character are property of ABC and Disney

**A/N: **This fic was incredibly fun to write, so I hope you all really enjoy it. Special thanks to everyone in the RMC, and my amazing fanpop friend, Raeraegirl, who always keeps me writing.

The bar in the story is loosely based off of MacLarens from "How I Met Your Mother", and there will be cameos of the characters.

I'm not really sure about how I structured this, please let me know if it doesn't make sense or something.

Warning: There is mild character hate in this. But don't worry, it's a minor character that I think many of you also hold a grudge against. But if I'm wrong and it upsets you, I'm sorry.

This is rated T for now, but a rating change is entirely possible, so keep that in mind.

**CHAPTER 1**

"_**I've been trying to do it right. I've been living a lonely life."-The Lumineers**_

Belle French knows Mr. Gold.

Not exactly as well as she might like to, but better than any of the other regulars at Pongo's. She knows he works at a bank, and that he's not very sociable due to a certain traumatic event that took place at an unidentifiable time in the past. Not that he's told her any of this. It's just stuff she's heard from people he works with, or people who claim to know him.

Gold seems to stop at nothing to avoid any real conversation with Belle, much to her utter disappointment. If she had it her way, he'd be talking to her nonstop, leaning over the bar whispering all the things she wanted him to in that irresistible Scottish accent. Everything about him made her want to leap right onto him, but as far as Belle could tell, Gold has no intention nor desire of letting her pounce on him. Still, she can't help but enjoy the fact that he comes in every day at exactly 8PM and sits at the bar. Not at some secluded table in back or some special booth like the other regulars. He took it upon himself to sit across from Belle. Which of course wasn't something that she thought meant anything. He probably just though that making smalltalk with her was better than no company at all. _But_, she thinks to herself, _he doesn't like company. _And there are empty tables everywhere. He didn't have to sit by her, so why does he ever bother? She wouldn't so much as entertain the idea that he likes her...it's just that...she thinks he likes her. Not just because she stands behind a counter serving him alcohol in low cut tops, tiny shorts, and an apron. Not to mention her 4-inch wedge sandals. No. Belle though he liked her for _her. _Not like the other womanizing idiots in the bar who are constantly trying to lure her out of her position behind the counter and back to their apartments. Belle could see that Gold wasn't one to fall for someone based on looks. And, okay, maybe that's all he has to work with at this points, because he outright refuses to engage in actual conversation with her, but it isn't like he talking to anyone else either.

But if he does like her, he does a damn good job of hiding it. Each day at 8PM, Belle finds herself waiting around by the glass that she kisses the rim of every day (the one she only gave to Gold, of course, just so that maybe he'd pick up on the fact that the cherry lipgloss he tasted every day was hers. But even though she uses it quite liberally around him, he hasn't caught onto it.) and fixing her hair and outfit. Then when he opens the door she'll turn around and let her brunette curls cascade down her shoulder and across her chest.

"Good evening, Mr. Gold," she calls in her Aussie accent, flashing him her dimpled smile.

And every day he'll do the same thing. Just give her the slightest hint of a smile and slide into a barstool.

And Belle will just swallow her frustration and lean over the bar, giving him the full view down her shirt. "So," she'll says, biting down on her lower lip, "what can I get you?"

And he'll say the same thing he always does. "Just the usual is fine, dearie."

And as great as it is to hear that immensely attractive Scottish accent, 'just the usual' is so _not _fine. Fine would be him bending her over the bar after she closed up and fucking her brains out.

This is why she doesn't understand why she's so attracted to Mr. Gold. All he ever does is tease and frustrate her. After all, she was Belle French, the hot bartender that men lined up for every time she got behind the counter. He _should _like her the way she liked him. But she has no way of truly knowing whether he does or not.

The only person who understands Belle's attraction to Mr. Gold less that she does is her boss, August. August is what Belle likes to call Sir Douche of the Royal Jackassery. Mostly due to the fact that he is obsessed with being oh-so-mysterious, and that he still thinks there's a market out there for his never-going-to-be-published book series about the tragic backstory of Pinocchio. You know, besides the actual backstory. Belle has only taken a look at the book once, but the only part that intrigued her was when Snow White and Prince Charming has asked for help from Rumpelstiltskin. Belle was always one to root for Rumpelstiltskin, much to the disappointment of her elementary school teachers.

Anyway, August is beyond sick of hearing about Mr. Gold, and even sicker of Belle giving him his drinks on the house.

"Honestly, French, does it look like this place is made of money?" he'd asked her last week.

"Just take it out of my paycheck," Belle said, blowing off his words entirely.

"You don't have a paycheck anymore as far as I'm concerned," August said, "good luck paying off daddy's debt now. You're going to be working here for quite some time, French."

Belle just glared at him. "Well then I guess it's a good thing I don't mind working here," she sneered and curtsied sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind, I have to get back to my _job. _It's almost 7:50."

August rolled his eyes and she spun around, walking back to the bar. "I'm not lying, French!" August called after her.

"Are you sure? I though I saw your nose grow a bit!" Belle said, and gave him a princessy wave.

She isn't worried about August firing her in the slightest. Besides her being the main source of male costumers at Pongo's, she's pretty sure he has a soul, and won't just let her drown in her father's debt.

Belle's father wasn't particularly happy when he learned that her latest gig was behind a bar, but after a long argument that ended in her saying: "It's either this or stripping, Papa! Don't blame me, it's your drug addict ass that got us into this!", he decided he might as well focus on the cash, and not was his daughter was doing to earn it. Not that she's doing much of anything wrong. Besides blowing all their money on drinks for Gold and giving him the full view down her shirt every day, anyway. Oh, and purposely sharing saliva with him through something that wasn't kissing (not that Gold knew about that.). But Belle assumes her father will understand, given that it's all in the name of true love. And it's definitely true love. She'd gathered that from the first time he came in.

"Uh, thanks," a super tall guy with light brown had said as he took a bunch of beers from her and handed them to his friends.

And Belle had just been in the middle of telling him "You're welcome," when Gold had walked in. He was wearing one of his many suits and leaning on his cane. Her bright blue eyes met with his brown ones for just a moment, and even though she swore he was going to take a seat on the other side of the bar, he came toward her and pulled out a barstool.

"Excuse me?" he'd said.

Belle blinked and tried to snap herself out of a trance. "Yeah?"

"Could I get a gin and tonic please, Miss?" He was polite, but the accent had thrown her into a daze.

"Um, yeah. Of course," she said.

She'd made his drink slowly before handing it over to him. He took it from her and their fingers clashed together. Belle had felt the pure electricity rush through her in that moment and she looked up to meet his eyes again. Unfortunately, the beautiful moment was cut short by a tall blond man in a suit.

"Hey," he said to Belle, lifting his chin in her direction.

She didn't even look at him. "Are you going to order a drink?" she asked, not taking her eyes off Gold.

"No," the guy had said, "I was actually just hoping you could help me with this space mission I'm working on."

Belle's eyes don't so much as dart toward him. "Well then, you should go. I was actually just talking to someone so I won't be able to help you."

She felt bad about laughing when he walked away in defeat.

"Do you know that man?" Gold had asked her.

"Sort of. I don't know his name, but he's a regular so..." she trailed off.

"Ah. I see. Well, I work with the man. He's not a bad person. You didn't have to send him off," Gold said to her.

"You work on a space mission?" Belle teased. Gold laughed and shook his head. Belle smiled. "No, uh...I would have sent him off anyway."

"Why is that I wonder?"

She winked at him. "Maybe one day I'll tell you," she teased.

He nodded. "Alright then. I'll hold you to that."

"So does that mean you'll come back?"

He smiled at her. "Yes. I'll most definitely be coming back."

And that was all it took. Belle French wasn't just hooked. She'd already been reeled in.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hey all! Thank you a bajillion for all the alerts and reviews, they really make my day! I've actually had this story almost finished for like ever, so the good news is that there will be a real plotline! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Loves to all of you, xoxo ~RS14

**CHAPTER 2**

"_**I find I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind"-Collide, Howie Day**_

Mr. Gold doesn't quite know what to make of Ms. Belle French.

His first impression of the girl had been the same as everyone else's. She was a stunning, chirpy, ridiculously-out-of-his-league female bartender. One that every man around was tripping over himself to have a chance with.

But Mr. Gold doesn't have to know much to know that Belle treats him differently than everyone else in the bar. Perhaps out of pity, or maybe she'd heard how terrifying he was from her other customers. Whatever her motive is, Gold is sure whether to enjoy it or be worried by it. After all, he'd heard about Belle French long before he'd ever stepped foot in Pongo's.

Regina Mills, one of Gold's business partners (who was quite lucky to have a job still based on the fact that everyone knows she is a manipulative bitch whose personal project is to make everyone miserable.) had waltzed into Gold's office at 11:30PM (which wasn't shocking even though she'd already worked from 9-5 that day. Their corporately corrupt company was anything but flexible with business hours.) with a scowl on her face.

"Regina." Gold said. He wasn't happy to be at work to begin with and seeing Regina there didn't help matters much, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Regina just glared ahead and said, "I'm here for the contracts I was supposed to send to the downtown office. You never gave them to me."

Gold waved one hand in the air and opened a drawer with the other. "Of course. How could I forget?" he said, pulling the documents out of the desk and holding them out to her.

"Perhaps the same way New York City establishments forget to hire quality human beings," Regina seethed, snatching the contracts from Gold's hand.

"You know, I was thinking of asking why you're in such a fowl mood. Would you care to elaborate, dear?" Gold didn't really care about Regina's issues, but hearing about her suffering may help to lift his spirits.

Regina had scowled. "They hired some tramp at Pongo's and now I can't get a fucking drink without fighting through a crowd. It's as if they _want _to make things harder for me.

"Or perhaps they're just looking to make more money," Gold had offered, "either way, traffic's sure to die down there eventually. It's not as if they'd want to stare at her day in and day out."

Regina just grimaced and shook her head. "It doesn't matter anyway. I have no intention of ever going back there regardless."

As he watched Regina (finally) leave, Gold couldn't help but smile to himself. He had been looking for a good bar for ages and Pongo's would have been his first choice if Regina hadn't gone there all the time. Hearing that she was boycotting the place because there was now a beautiful girl behind the counter was the best news he ever could have gotten. Especially because he knew very well that Regina Mills always kept her word. He thinks of Mary Margaret Blanchard, the poor office assistant who'd been fired for screwing her married boss, David Nolan. Everyone had known about it, but since Regina had some kind of secret beef with Ms. Blanchard, she was the one who'd taken it upon herself to inform David's boss. David kept his job, but Mary Margaret had been sent packing in a heartbeat. Something that definitely made everyone question the morals of the company.

Anyway, the day after he'd had that fateful chat with Regina, Gold had taken it upon himself to go out for a drink, and from the moment he stepped in, it was impossible not to notice the brunette beauty behind the bar. She was short. Shorter than him, anyway, with bouncy curls and fair skin. She was wearing a blue and white plaid shirt unbuttoned as much as possible and tied just below her breasts with little shorts and a white apron. She was utterly beautiful, and flaunting it in his face to make matters worse. Her eyes reflected off his, bluer than anything he'd ever seen. His plan had been to take a seat in a secluded corner and wait for a waitress, but it was as if an invisible force was pulling him to the bar.

He'd asked her for a drink and she'd just nodded and said, "Yeah. Of course."

He felt a rush of something course through him when their fingers touched. It was like nothing he'd ever felt in his life. Like..._magic._

A dim-witted blond man had hit on her while her eyes were locked with Gold's, but she'd blown him off. God felt bad about that. She didn't need to dismiss a potential suitor just so that he could ogle her. But when he addressed this, she insisted that she would have sent him off anyway, and that maybe she'd tell him why someday...if he kept coming back.

And every day after that, at exactly 8PM, he's there. And she always waves frantically and gives him his gin and tonic in a glass that tastes like cherries. She always laughs with him and she always makes an effort to lean over the bar and talk to him. (something he doesn't mind due to the view she may or may not realize she's giving him.) She's the only person he's ever known who will wait up for him every night.

Which is why he tries so hard to avoid any sort of meaningful conversation with her. Because with every word she says he feels himself falling harder and faster for her, and he can't bear to be put through that. So he decides not to come here anymore, and every day he finds himself sitting in the same barstool, drinking the same gin and tonic and staring at the same girl.

It's not like _they'd _want to stare at her day in and day out. True. But Mr. Gold would.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Hi all! Thank you all SO SO SO much for all the reviews and alerts! It means the world to me! This chapter is really just setup, but I hope you like it anyway. I'm going to the mountains all weekend to escape the horrendous heat, so you can expect the next chapter by Monday or Tuesday at the earliest. Loves to all of you, xoxo~RS14

**CHAPTER 3**

"**_I fell so fast, can't hold myself back"-Burnin' Up, The Jonas Brothers_** _(not that I spent all week looking up and listening to Jonas Brothers songs, because that would be mega lame)_

There's something about Belle French that everyone loves.

Perhaps it's her smile, her beauty, or her positive attitude. After all, she hadn't had the easiest childhood. Her number one role model and supporter, her mother, had died when Belle was eleven. Belle had decided to be strong about it, but her father had other ideas. Belle didn't learn about his drug addiction until they were living in an itty bitty apartment in the honest to god ghetto. She'd had her suspicions, but it wasn't until he'd asked _her _to get a job that she realized what was truly happening. So she dropped out of the community college she'd been subjected to and came to work at Pongo's. And even though she didn't have a ton of knowledge about bartending, August hired her out of pity...and the fact that he knew male costumers would be flooding in when he put her behind the counter. Belle rarely speaks to her father now, and feels desperately in need of a real father figure.

Which is August's explanation for her crush on Mr. Gold.

When he'd told her this, Belle had been incredibly offended. "Exactly what are you accusing me of!" she'd demanded after August made this observation.

"Nothing. Nothing except being a regular twenty seven year old with _some _daddy issues," he'd said.

"That's _not _why I care about Gold! You just don't understand. You don't understand me at all, August. You think you do, but you don't," she fired back. She really can't stand August. He's constantly trying to tell everyone why they are. She'd seen him do it to the sheriff, Emma, constantly, but that's just because he thinks he has a chance with her. Belle knows that he doesn't though. She can see in Emma's eyes that she's plagued with memories of someone else. Someone Belle suspected was the father of her son, Henry, from the way she's seen her look at him.

But what did Belle French know, anyway? She thinks she has a chance with Mr. Gold.

"You don't have to get so defensive, French," August had said, "I'm only trying to help you."

"I _don't _want your help!" Belle seethed, and spun around, walking back to the bar.

That seems to be the way most of their encounters end.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

It's 7:50 already and Ruby is insistent on on staying and talking to Belle about her day. Ruby works at a diner down the road, which is why Belle doesn't understand why she's here to begin with. And even though she loves Ruby like a sister, she can't help hoping that Dr. Hopper will barge through the door and give her someone else to bother.

Not that Ruby would really be _bothering _Dr. Hopper in any way. Belle sees the way they look at each other. It's quite hysterical, honestly. Ruby is so quick to try anything, whereas Archie is completely shy and awkward and unsure about how he should be reacting to Ruby's advances.

"Omigosh, I'm so sorry!" Ruby exclaims.

Belle snaps back to reality. "What?"

"It's almost 8! I have to go, I'm so sorry!"

"Why?" Belle asks, trying to sound as upset as possible, even though she's practically jumping up and down.

Ruby flashes her teeth through bright red lipstick and tilts her head to the side. "Oh please, Belle," she says, "I know you wait for that guy every day. The bank one or whatever."

"_Gold,_" Belle corrects, "And I do not!"

Ruby gather up her purse and shakes her head. "Sure you don't" she says, turning around and starting to walk out, but she looks back and blows Belle a kiss, "good luck on your date!" she teases. Belle rolls her eyes and grabs Gold's cup, kissing the rim of it gently before twirling it around in anticipation.

She gives him her usual grin when he walks in. "Evening, Mr. Gold," she says.

He takes his seat on the barstool. "Good evening, Ms. French," he says.

She smiles at him. "The usual, I presume?" she asks.

"You presume correctly."

She giggles and makes him his drink, not taking her eyes off him in the process (or at least, she tries not to. She doesn't have awesome hand-eye coordination, so she has to look at what she's doing a little bit.). She slides it over to him with a smile and leans over the bar.

"So," she says softly, "How was your-"

"French! Get it here!"

Belle groans rather loudly at the sound of August's voice. But she recovers from the irritation quickly and smiles at Gold. "I'll uh, I'll be right back," she says.

He nods at her and sips his drink.

Belle storms through the door and glares daggers at her boss. "What," she snarls, "is so important that you called me back here when you _knew _I was in the middle of something."

August shakes his head slowly and smiles and the ground stupidly. "I need you to work Saturday night."

She pouts a little. "Whyyy?" she groans.

"Because Carl has a thing," he states, "if you do it I'll pay you more this month, and I won't hold Gold's drinks against you."

She toes the ground with her wedge sandal. "Fine. Whatever."

She spins around and storms out. Gold is still sitting at the bar, sipping his drink at staring off. "I'm sorry," Belle says.

He tips his glass at her and smiles. "You needn't worry. Is something wrong?"

She shakes her head. "No. I mean, not really. My boss is just forcing me to work tomorrow night."

He nods slowly. "I see. Well, I'm quite willing to come and keep you company, dearie."

She smiles and laughs a bit. "You're always willing to keep me company," she says.

There's a slightly awkward silence before they laugh together. "That's be really nice actually. Um, thank you."

He gives her a little smile. "Trust me, Ms. French. It's my absolute pleasure."

The funny thing is that she actually believes that, and she finds herself smiling at him like an idiot for the longest time. "Okay," she says, "Saturday night, then."

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

When Belle gets back to her apartment (her father is gone, of course. Even though it's nearly four in the morning.) she finds herself humming to herself and twirling around the living room. She untwirls her scarf and does a ballet sort of pose with it dangling in her hand. Of course, due to her lack of coordination she falls to the couch soon after. She hugs a pillow to her chest and sighs. She's never felt this way with anyone. Belle French was certainly never a prude, and she'd been with her fair share of men at age 27, but until now she hadn't realized that she didn't feel anything with any of them. She her feeling are taking over her, and she's starting to realize what Ruby means when she talks about Archie...

Ruby. Dammit. Belle vaguely remembers that in their conversation earlier Ruby had mentioned that she wanted Belle to come shoe shopping with her or something tomorrow night. Damn. Belle feels horrible about letting her friend down, but if she knows Ruby, then she knows she'll understand.

Belle takes her old silver flip phone from her jacket pocket and dials Ruby's number. She answers on the third ring.

"Belle?" she says groggily.

"Hey Ruby! Sorry it's so damn early-"

"Well that's an understatement," Ruby says, yawning.

Belle laughs. "Yeah, well, I wanted to let you know that I can't go shopping with you tomorrow. August is forcing me to work."

"What a dick," Ruby whines, but it's muffled by a yawn, "but it's okay. We'll go another time."

"Thank you so much, Ruby. Are you sure you're okay rescheduling?"

"Absolutely. Archie actually asked me to go out tomorrow. I told him no but-"

"Well then you'd better call him!" Belle says excitedly. Look at her, believing in the power of love.

Ruby laughs. "Well, I'll make my phone calls at a reasonable hour. You should try it sometime."

Belle scoffs. "Me? Oh please."

"Yeah, who am I kidding, right?"

They laugh together for a moment before Ruby says, "Well, my covers are calling. I'll speak with you soon, Belle."

"Kay. Bye."

Belle sighs, snapping her phone shut and falling back into the pillows on the couch. She can't sleep, the only thing she's thinking about is Gold. When she closes her eyes he's all she can see. Nothing makes sense anymore and yet she couldn't be happier if she tried.

Who would have thought? Belle French, falling head over heels in love.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Goodness me this fic is getting so fun! Not that I worked on it for 3 hours yesterday or anything because that would be insane. So, I hope you all had a crazy Comic Con weekend like me! This chapter was REALLY hard to keep T rated but I think I did it. Hope you all like xoxo loves!

**CHAPTER 4**

"_**I hope that you see right through my walls"-Arms, Christina Perri**_

__Belle French wakes up to...silence. This is incredibly surprising because it _is _New York City and silence doesn't really happen. She sits up on the couch and darts her eyes back and forth suspiciously before throwing her blanket off her and scurrying over to the window only to find that it's snowing like she's never seen. Seriously, everything is completely white. Everything that she can see out the clouded window, anyway. She checks her phone for the time. It's one o' clock already. It must have snowed all morning.

Her phone starts vibrating in her hand, making her jump. She sighs heavily when she sees the number.

"Hey, August," she says, "You still need me to come in tonight?"

"Yeah, I do," he tells her, "I was just calling to remind you, actually. Didn't want you getting any ideas what with this storm."

"Uh huh," Belle says, chewing her lip. She's internally debating about whether this is good or bad. On the one hand, she really wants to see Gold tonight. On the other hand...would he even be there? Belle only lives about a block from the bar, so even if she can't walk, a cab will be cheap. But she has no idea where Gold lives, so the chances of him showing up are anywhere from good to miserable. But she decides it won't hurt to wait up for him either way. So on that thought she sighs into the phone again. "I'm sure Casper will enjoy his drink," she tells August.

He snorts. "Yeah, I'm sure he will."

Belle rolls her eyes. "Whatever. Are you forcing anyone else to work tonight?"

"Nope" he says, popping the _P, _"Just you, French."

"Awesome." she says with no emotion.

She hears August laughing for only a minute before she snaps her phone shut.

She spends the rest of the day cooking and cleaning in total overdrive. She can't help but fantasize about Gold in the process. About him being there, telling her to stop cleaning, pressing his mouth up against hers and pinning her to the wall. About him ripping her clothes right off and hissing lustful words in her ear. About him capturing her. Possibly tying her up...

She tries to blink away the crazy fantasies, knowing how ridiculous she's being. It'll be a miracle if he even tells her his first name tonight. Or...if he even shows up.

Belle sighs and scrubs the already clean counter-top harder than before. She'll be lucky if she's still sane by eight.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

She had definitely underestimated the snow. She'd left the apartment at 7:30, and it is now 7:45 and she's maybe half of the way there. She thinks about hailing a cab, but decides it's not worth it to overpay someone to drive her half a block. She tries running, but because she's Belle, she gives up on that idea after collapsing in the snow twice.

She _finally _makes it to Pongo's at 7:56. Her gloves make it nearly impossible to get the key in the door but somehow she manages. She opens the door and sighs and the sight of the deserted room. She tosses her gloves and coat over the bar and stops the snow off her wedge boots a little harder than necessary. It shocks her that yesterday she'd gotten away with wearing sandals and little shorts (even though to be fair she HAD been freezing on the way home), and yet today she was in her thickest coat. That's just New York, she supposes. Everchanging and all that.

She had been more than a little disappointed that Gold hadn't been waiting outside the bar when she'd gotten there, but it had been silly of her to expect anything else. After all, he always gets here at 8:00 sharp. No earlier and no later. She checks her phone for what feels like the billionth time today. 7:58. She walks back behind the bar and grabs her apron, tying it around her low rise jeans tightly. Then she walks over to the glasses she'd wasted last night stacking. Of course, Gold's is at the very top. She picks it up and kisses the rim of it, squeezing her eyes shut, begging the universe to let him show up against all odds.

She sighs and pulls the glass away from her lips. Nothing. No one comes in. Of course no one comes in. It's snowing like a bitch and everyone except her is probably curled up on their couch with a mug of hot cocoa. But she'd let herself believe that something...magic, maybe?...would bring him to her. She places her hands on her hips and looks down, closing her eyes.

And that's when she hears the door open. Her eyes open and her head snaps toward the door.

Her face breaks into a huge smile and the tears she hadn't realized were there melt away. "Mr. Gold," she says, and to her utter embarrassment her voice actually cracks, "You...you came."

He smiles and pulls out his usual barstool. "I had to," he says, his accent thick, "I made you a deal. I'd never break that."

She giggles and bites her lower lip. "So, can I get you the usual? On the house," she assures him.

He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Oh no, I'm not going to keep stealing your paycheck, Ms. French."

Clear liquid falls from the bottle she'd unscrewed into the glass of ice she'd gathered between sentences. "It's not stealing if I'm giving it to you," she says.

"Well you work much too hard to give your money away." he counters.

Belle rolls her eyes and slides the glass across the bar. But apparently she slides it a bit too far for the distance, probably because she'd been looking at the ceiling and not the counter-top, because the glass falls right off the edge and lands with a _thunk _on the wood floor.

Gold is about to pick it up for her but she hurries around the bar and kneels down next to the glass. "Really?" she mumbles, picking it up and examining the damage.

"What is it, dearie?" Gold asks.

She shakes her head and sighs. "Nothing it's just it's...it's chipped," she lifts the glass for him to see.

He gives her an odd look. "Well, it's just a cup," he says.

She smiles and exhales. "right," she says, standing up and moving back behind the bar. "uh, do you mind? The cup, I mean?"she asks.

"No, I don't mind."

She nods and starts making his drink _again._ And as she's doing so, she hears him say, "Alright, Ms. French. You know, we made another deal sometime back."

She looks at him out the corner of her eye. "Oh really? And what was that?"

"We established that you would one day explain to me why you rejected a perfectly acceptable suitor in this very room the day I met you," he says, pointing to the surface of the bar.

Belle blushes and looks away. "Oh yeah. That." she mumbles before placing his glass in front of him and planting her hands on either side of it. "Well...you know that girl he was sitting next to? The tall, skinny, brunette one?"

"Sure," Gold says. He doesn't remember precisely, but he can vaguely recall who the man had been sitting with.

"Well, they come here every day. Him, her, and their three other friends. But the two of them...they have something special. Everyone tells me that they've been coming here for ages and that they've only been friends...but that's what makes it so amazing. I know that they love each other more than they're willing to admit, and that they've always loved each other in one way or another, and that's beautiful to me. Because they weren't trying to fall in love, it just happened that way. That's how love's supposed to be, you know? Love is...love is layered. Love is a...a mystery to be uncovered." She leans on her palms and he just looks up at her, smiling and shaking his head in ...amusement? Amazement? Confusion?

"But, um, yeah, it's silly," Belle says.

He laughs softly. "Belle French, you are many, _many _things, but silly isn't one of them."

She smiles down at him and starts to lean forward slowly. She feels his breath in her and she exhales softly and closes her eyes. She hears the barstool he'd been sitting in slide out and she feels his mouth crash against hers. She gasps against him and his hand threads into her hair. She wraps her arms around his neck and crawls onto the counter, letting his mouth leave hers for only a second. Moments like these weren't supposed to happen for people like Belle French and Mr. Gold. Moments like these were only supposed to be for good people with good intentions, and yet here they are. She's sitting on the bar and he's standing there kissing her like he's wanted to since he met her. She can barely tell when he climbs on top of her and lays her flat on the surface of the bar, ripping her apron off and moaning against her mouth. She can't believe this is real. She can't believe that she's actually gotten what she wanted.

True love wasn't supposed to happen for girls like Belle French.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey! Sorry this chapter took forever! Hope it doesn't disappoint! This story is so so so fun to write! It should come out to about 9 or 10 chapters, and I promise not to bail on it. **

**Also, YES THERE HAS BEEN A RATING CHANGE. It had to happen. What's Rumbelle fan fiction without smut, right? Though I do not claim to be a smut writer by any means. Anyhoo, I'll shut up. On with the fic!**

**CHAPTER 5**

"_**Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck. Some nights I call it a draw"-Some Nights, fun.**_

Mr. Gold knows he shouldn't be doing this right now. He knows that it's wrong on every level and that she's supposed to be innocent. Or at least more innocent than this. But trying to remember how innocent she is becomes increasingly more difficult as she's moving his hands to the buttons on her shirt and telling him to please, _please, __**please**_ take it off.

And he isn't about to deny her that, but even so, he feels obliged to ask, "you're sure this is what you want?"

Just to cement what her reply will be, he kisses her neck softly once, and then pulses his tongue against her and her hips buck towards him. "YES!" she moans, "Yes, I'm sure!"

And that's all the license he needs. His mouth moves from her neck, much to her disappointment, and he stares hungrily at the front of her shirt. He starts unbuttoning it and realizes belatedly that she's not wearing a bra. The sight of her breasts bare in front of him makes him harder than he would have thought possible and he's worried about coming before he's even had a chance to touch her.

"Fuck, Belle," he says, and it's totally garbled with breathiness.

"I wouldn't mind that," she says, biting his earlobe playfully. He moans softly and she giggles.

He kisses the side of her left breast once before tracing up the side of it and towards her nipple with his tongue. He hears her making sounds above him, and it's completely exhilarating. He takes her nipple into his mouth and sucks it hard. She moans loudly and he smiles, rolling the nub between his teeth. Then he moves his mouth to the valley between her breasts swiftly and starts kissing down her sternum and across her stomach. His lips brush against her fingers, which are carefully unbuttoning her jeans. She releases the iron grip she'd had on his hips and pushes her jeans and underwear down as far as she can manage while he places hot, wet kisses all over her stomach. She sighs and tosses her head to the side, her hair spilling to one side of the bar, when she feels that his lips are moving lower and lower.

She arches up to him, giving him easy access to her dripping nether regions. He kisses her there softly, over and over before she feels his tongue dart inside her. She chokes on a gasp and her hands tangle in his hair tightly. His tongue swirls around her and he can hear all the wild, animalistic noises she's making above him.

Never in his life would he have thought there was any way he could get here. In his eyes, Belle was like this beautiful illusion sent to torture him because he could never have her. She's always been like the goddess that had slipped through his fingers time and time again. He's wanted her for so long, but he'd never let himself believe it. He'd always ignored his feelings, telling himself that love is weakness (something Regina liked to remind him.) and yet here he is, feeling the tremors rock through this girl's body under _his touch_. And amidst her screaming and gasping, he swears she says she loves him. This isn't just lust. This is something else entirely. Something Mr. Gold had never let himself believe was within his reach.

He's in love with her.

She rocks against him and tries to catch her breath and reach down to undo his pants at the same time. Noticing her eagerness, he helps her trembling fingers with his own. She pushes his pants down the same way she had with hers.

He's pressed up against her and she's still gasping, waiting for him. He pushes up inside of her begging sex and she cries out. He kisses her slowly, trying to calm her. She leans into the kiss, her mouth opening and her tongue sweeping through his mouth while he fucks her in a perfect rhythm, feeling her walls get tighter and tighter around him. She's going to come again, he can feel it. He's feeling painfully close to his own release as well, and feeling her clenched around him and kissing him so tenderly certainly isn't helping. He pounds into her harder, begging her to find release, and he hears when she does. She screams and pulls at his hair. He comes quickly after that. It would be nearly impossible not to what with her head falling back onto the bar and his landing between her breasts.

All he can feel is her. She's got him hooked so tight that he couldn't let her go without dying if he tried. The only word on his lips is her name, and the only thing he wants is her right here, laid out on the bar, forever.

He's never going to let her go.

An eternity later, Belle giggles and says, "You know, I really should go and lock the door."

The sentence snaps him back to reality. He remembers exactly where he is, and is shaken with the revelation that this was wrong. He shouldn't have done this with her here, maybe anywhere. She's a perfect, independent girl who definitely doesn't deserve to have someone like _him _thinking about her constantly. She deserves all the great things in the world, but she doesn't deserve to be trapped by him.

He rolls over and hops off the bar, pulling up his boxers and trousers. "Yes, I suppose you should," he says to her.

She grins at him and hops off the other side of the bar, buttoning her shirt and pulling her own jeans back up. After zipping and buttoning them, she hurries over to the door and toys with the knob for a long time. "Huh," she says, "it's locked already. That's weird."

He laughs a little. "Well, it's a stroke of luck, I suppose."

She laughs for a moment before silence ensues. Both of them stand awkwardly, waiting for the other to say something. It's Belle who breaks the silence.

"Why do you come here so much?" she asks.

"I like it here," he tells her, not really thinking about the question, "helps me forget."

"Forget what?"

He looks off distantly for a second. "I guess it worked," he says.

Belle starts laughing, but she tries to sound serious when she says, "No, really. Everyone always talks about how…distant you are. There must be a reason for that."

He thinks about this for a moment. "Perhaps I'm just uninterested in being close to those people," he offers.

"You seemed interested in being close to me."

He gives her a little smile and she stands like a deer in headlights waiting for him to say something. But he doesn't. He doesn't need to respond with anything because even though she doesn't realize it, she's torn down his walls and forced him to feel something he hadn't felt in a long time. She is his angel. This beautiful creature sent to free him from his misery. So, yes, he wanted to be close to her, because without her he's nothing. Without her his life doesn't even make sense. She's his perfection. His everything.

"I'll tell you what, Miss French. I'll make you a deal. Maybe one day I'll tell you. But you'll owe me a favor in return," he says to her, practically glowing as he does so.

She nods and smiles. "Okay. I'm going to gold you to that."

He pulls on his coat and nods back at her. Their eyes lock for what seems like an eternity and in that time he tells her, "Goodnight, Belle," in a voice so soft it's hardly there. Then her turns, unlocks the door, and trudges out into the snow.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Instead of going back home, Gold makes his way back to the office. Even though it's nearly midnight, he's got things to do and sleeping definitely isn't an option. He needs a distraction, and work usually provides that on days when he really can't get Belle out of his head.

This would definitely be one of those days.

He unlocks the door to the building and takes the elevator up to his office floor. Assuming the place is deserted, he does as fast as he can down the hallway, leaning on his cane so hard he's a little scared it'll break. So it comes as quite a shock to him when he runs into someone.

He falls backward, but catches himself on his cane. The woman he'd plowed over isn't so lucky. He sees her on the ground with a little hat on her head and a scarf draped over a peacoat. It takes him a minute to realize who she is.

"Ms. Blanchard?" he says, eyeing her.

She's all flustered, trying to get up as quickly as possible while repositioning her accessories. "M-Mr. Gold," she stammers, "I-I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking."

Even though he knows that _he's _the one who wasn't looking, he's not going to stand around and play the blame game with her, so he just says, "That's quite alright. What isn't alright is the fact that you're wandering the halls of your ex-place-of-work in the middle of the night." 'middle of the night' is a bit of a stretch, but the point is clear.

Mary Margaret starts fidgeting again. "Oh, um, I was just…just…"

Gold gives her a cold stare and she finally caves.

"I was looking for David," Mary Margaret admits, "have you seen him around?"

"I'm afraid not. Last I heard he was leaving for a bit, going on a trip."

She looks crestfallen. "Oh. I thought that was just what he told Kathryn. He usually meets me here now."

Gold shakes his head. "You ought not to tell me that. I could easily let Regina know."

Mary Margaret cracks a smile. "You won't do that," she says, and sighs heavily, "I should have known he wouldn't be here. He's been having a hard time with Kathryn. Apparently she's been out of town a lot lately. Their relationship's always been bad, but I guess now it's worse," Gold can't begin to fathom why she's telling him this, but she's just keeps on talking, "it's just…I thought love would be different. Not all this sneaking around and trying so hard not to hurt people, you know?"

"No, I wouldn't know."

She gives him another warm smile. "Of course you wouldn't," she says, but she says it like she doesn't really mean it, and Gold instantly starts wondering if she'd somehow gained knowledge of what is going on in his personal life, "I guess that when I think of how I wanted things to go for me, it wouldn't be like this. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. Love makes people crazy, I guess," she laughs.

He gives her an awkward nod. "I guess," he says curtly.

"Well," she says, tossing one side of her scarf over her shoulder, "I should go home. No sense in staying here. Goodnight, Mr. Gold."

"Goodnight, Ms. Blanchard," he murmurs.

He watches her turn down the hallway towards the elevator and tries to shake the idea that he's becoming like her. He'd always enjoyed poking fun at the whole Mary Margaret-David soap opera, ad here he is starting a soap opera of his own! He's never been a huge believer in karma, but he can't help but wonder why else he would fall so hard and so fast for a girl _so _out of his league. Although the universe probably had it in for him long before this, so he decides to chalk it up to coincidence, rather than the universe indirectly punching him in the face.

It's still ridiculous, though. He's sworn he would leave Belle French alone. He'd sworn he wouldn't go back to that bar. He'd sworn he wasn't going to let anything like this happen.

But he'd be lying through his teeth if he said he wasn't really, really glad it did.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Hello, dearies! Hope you liked the last chapter. I pray this one doesn't disappoint! Also, just as a general note, I warned you that the bar is loosely "How I Met Your Mother" based, and you all may want to know that I'm a die hard Swarkles shipper, have been for 7 years, so yes I cameo'd Robin and Barney in this. Loves to you all, xoxo!

**CHAPTER 6**

"_**You push me, I don't have the strength to resist or control you"-Never Gonna Leave this Bed, Maroon 5**_

Belle watches him walk out of the bar with tears in her eyes. She has no idea why she's crying, she's just so overcome with emotion and nothing is making sense. She's happy, but she's also terrified and worried and unsure. In one night, all her dreams had come true and yet the entire foundation of her life has come apart. Mr. Gold has always been the one thing she can count on, and now she doesn't know what's going to happen with him, and it's terrifying.

She runs her hand through her tangled hair and sighs. This is all too much. She needs help. She needs someone to talk to.

And who better than Ruby? Belle fumbles around with her phone for what feels like ten minutes before finally getting Ruby's number punched in. She answers right away.

"Hello," she chirps. That's a good sign. At least she's still awake.

"Hey, Ruby," Belle says, struggling to keep her voice steady, "um, how was your date with Archie?"

"Good…" Ruby drawls, "But something tells me that isn't what this phone call is about."

Belle laughs nervously. "Yeah. Uh, could you come down to Pongo's?"

"_Now?_" Ruby asks, like it's a crazy question.

"Yeah. And maybe bring Archie along? He's a therapist, right?"

"Oh dear God, Belle, what did you do!" Ruby demands, and Belle can just picture her throwing her hands in the air.

"I don't know," Belle says softly, her voice cracking a little.

Hearing that sends Ruby into best-friend-to-the-rescue mode. "I'll be there in twenty. And I'll have Archie with me," she assures her.

Belle nods quickly. "Mmmkay. Thank you, Ruby."

"Of course."

Belle snaps her phone shut slowly before walking around the tables in the bar and over to the booth where the blond-suit-wearing man and his friends sit every day. She slides into the booth and lays her head down on the table.

She breathes slowly and softly against the hard wood and tries to clear her head, a task that proves to be nearly impossible. Every time she closes her eyes, she just sees him. She sees the way he's always looked at her, something she hadn't noticed until now. She sees the expression he has every time he walks into the bar, like he's seeing something truly amazing. She can still feel a tingling sensation on her lips and a soreness between her legs.

This…this whole idea is completely new to her. She's never been in love. Not really. She'd convinced herself she was in love before, but it's obvious now that she wasn't really. She'd never felt this. This insane joy and fear and overwhelming emotion. It's the most wonderful and amazing thing she's and she has no idea how to deal with it besides sitting with her head down on a table with tears leaking from her eyes.

She thinks of the two people who sit here each day. The looks they give each other, the obvious jealousy when one of them shows up with someone else on their arm. The way she'd seen him comforting her one night, her crying into his shoulder and him telling her how awesome she is.

And playing all those scenes through her mind, Belle realizes that she feels bad for them. They're never willing to admit their feelings. They'll be dodging the idea of being together for far too long before they realize they're in love with each other. Belle is lucky. Not only has she found someone she's completely, ridiculously in love with, but she also knows it. She knows that Gold is her perfect other half, just like those two people who sit here every day, but Belle isn't scared of it. She's crazed and freaking out a little, but she's definitely not scared of loving him.

She's thinking way too much, so doing what any other sensible person would do, she goes over to the bar, picks up the chipped glass from the floor (which is probably unsanitary but she's beyond caring), and fills it with the oldest scotch she can find. August will have her head for this later, but she's not going to bother thinking about that piece of shit at this point. She walks over to the booth and sits in the same spot, taking a long sip of the caramel colored liquid.

She hears the little bell above the door ring and her eyes dark upward. It's Ruby and Archie, both looking at her worriedly.

Belle stands up and smoothes out her jeans. "Hey," she says, practically swallowing the word.

Ruby just looks at her. "Hello, Belle," Archie says.

Belle walks closer to the bar. "Can I get you guys something to drink?" she asks, "You might need it later."

"That's be nice," Ruby says, reaching for her purse.

Belle grabs two glasses and the bottle of scotch. "Put your money away, Ruby. I'm the one who dragged you guys out here at midnight," she says, pouring them each a glass and handing it to them over the bar.

The three of them walk over to the booth where Belle's scotch had been sitting alone. Belle slides in on one slide, Ruby and Archie go to the other. Ruby narrows her eyes. "Okay, Belle, let's hear it. After all, it was nearly impossible to get here, so it better have been for a good reason.

Belle sighs. "It's…it's Mr. Gold," she says softly.

Ruby's eyebrows shoot up. "What!"

"He came here tonight."

Ruby tilts her head back and forth as if this information is of no use to her. "Well that doesn't surprise me. He's here every night you are."

"Yes, but…he was here and…we were talking and then…I guess I just got caught up in the moment because…"

Her face must be beet red because Ruby's jaw dangles and she says "No," in a gaspy voice.

Belle swallows hard and nods. "Yeah," she says shortly before putting her hands down on the table. "I don't know what to do. I have so many thoughts and emotions and I just don't know how to take any of this. I just can't stop thinking about it…I can't stop thinking about _him_. What does that mean?"

Ruby smiles and gives her a little laugh. "It means you're in love," she states, looking up at Archie as she does so.

Belle sighs and bites her lower lip. "Well I could have gathered that much," she mutters, looking away.

Ruby laughs at her. "Well what's the problem then?"

"The problem is that I'm not _supposed _to be in love with him because I have no way of knowing if he feels the same way about me. I need analysis or something," Belle gestures to Archie, "So analyze."

Archie starts to say something but Ruby shushes him and gives Belle a 'you're a total idiot' look. "You have no way of knowing whether or not he loves you? Belle. He comes here every freaking day to see you. He had sex with you. Trust me, if those aren't two dead giveaways I don't know what is."

"I know, I know. But how do I know that's what it means. I'm worried about it, Ruby."

Archie puts his hands down on the table. "Belle," he says, "Can you think of a single reason why he wouldn't feel for you the way you feel for him?"

Belle takes a sip of her drink. "Yeah. For one, I latched onto him like a puppy, and for two he's never told me otherwise."

"Those have got to be the two stupidest reasons I've ever-"

Archie shushes Ruby before she can finish her sentence. "It's obvious to me that you're perfectly willing to admit how _you _feel, but why is it hard for you to see that he loves you just as much as you love him?"

"Probably more than that," Ruby interjects, "Have you seen the way he looks at her?"

Belle blushes and looks away. "Maybe it's because…no one else ever has. No one else was ever willing to be with me in an honest way. And now that I've found someone I want that with, I'm just looking for a reason for it not to be real."

Archie nods and smiles. "Well let me assure you, Belle. It's real."

"How do you know that?"

Ruby does a combination snap-point at Belle. "You know what, we'll prove it. When he shows up on Monday, you'll know. You'll know that he doesn't want to let you go."

Archie nods. "Exactly. Trust me, Belle. When you meet the right person, you know it." He looks directly into Ruby's and she stares back.

"Yeah, you do," Ruby murmurs.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Hi, everyone! Sorry this took a while. This chapter is a lot of Gold's POV so I hope you enjoy that. And always keep in mind that Sparkles believes in happy endings!

I send a big thank you to tumblr user rumbellelyrics, and everyone who posts their Rumbelle playlists because the songs they post always keep me inspired and help me write.

**CHAPTER 7**

"_**When you love someone but it goes to waste, could it be worse?"-Fix You, Coldplay**_

__It's Sunday, and Sunday sucks for Mr. Gold. Usually Saturday sucks too because Belle doesn't work weekends, but since he'd seen her yesterday, Sunday really sucks.

After his encounter with Mary Margaret, Gold had spent the entire night at the office. His boos had seen him there at 6AM and told him to take the day off, something that should have been a blessing, but was actually the worst curse imaginable. Having an entire day free after such an incredible thing had happened to him was dangerous. It's also terrible because he knows that he can't see Belle today.

Going home was definitely not an option. He's not the kind of person who sits around reminiscing about some girl on his day off. Besides, he doesn't have much in the way of entertainment back at his place (mostly because he's never there) besides your basic TV and computer, and he deems both of those things fairly ineffective distractions.

So he ducks into a diner about a block from Pongo's and decides that since it's too early for any kind of alcohol, coffee will have to do.

He sees a tall, dark haired girl with chunky red streaks in her hair taking the order of a stalky black man. She turns around when she hears the ding of the bell above the door, and when her eyes land on him her jaw drops, and she whispers, "Oh. My. God." making each word it's own sentence.

Of course, Gold hasn't the slightest idea who she is. He goes through his memory, trying to figure out where he's seen her before, but he can't remember. So he decides that it really doesn't matter much.

"Are you going to offer me a seat?" he asks her, and not exactly in the kindest way.

She looks dumbstruck for a split second before she covers her shock with a smile and says, "yes, of course," and leads him to a booth in the back, "this okay?"

He nods and takes a seat. "I suppose."

The girl gives him an odd look before plastering on that same sincere smile and saying, "So, can I get you anything?"

"Coffee," Gold says flatly.

She claps her hands together slowly and says, "Okay then," and it looks like she's totally forcing her smile.

He watches her waltz back around the counter. She's already about his height, but she's piled sky high heels on top of that. Then she's got those itty bitty red shorts to add to her whorish demeanor. She obviously isn't a self conscious girl.

__But Gold has no room to say anything. Every woman has held no appeal to him ever since he met Belle.

The girl comes back to his table with the coffee pot and a mug. She places the mug in front of him and pours his coffee.

"Thank you," he mutters, expecting her to leave him in peace. But instead of honoring that, she gets down on her knees and rests her hands and chin on the table.

"Can I tell you a secret?" she asks.

He looks at her like she's got six eyes and a tail and stammers, "Um. Sure."

"I know who you are," she says matter-of-factly.

"Really? And who exactly do you think I am?" he asks her, slightly intrigued.

She grins hugely. "You're Mr. Gold. Wanna know how I know?" she teases.

He rolls his eyes and breathes heavily. "How do you know?"

"Because my best friend is a girl named Belle French, and you're basically the only thing she ever talks about," the girl informs him. She raises her eyebrows and waits for his response.

Well this is just perfect. He'd come here to escape thoughts of Belle as much as possible. It's just his luck It's just his luck that her friend happened to be waiting his table at some random diner he'd ducked into. Seriously, what were the odds? "You...you know Belle?"he says. It's a stupid question.

She laughs. "Yeah. And from what I've gathered, you know her too. Pretty well, it would seem."

He nods and sips his coffee, trying to avoid this awkward conversation. .

But obviously, this girl isn't an awkward person because she just continues talking. "I think it's sweet. All those stories she tells me about you...it's like a fairytale. But she still doesn't believe that you care for her the way she does for you. She's in love with you, Mr. Gold."

He shakes his head. "She must have been drunk when she said that," he mutters.

"Ha!" she laughs loudly, "Yeah, she's drunk! She drunk on _you, _Mr Gold!"

The sentence throws him off a little, but he doesn't let it show. "Sure she is," he says, like the thought hadn't made a chorus of angels start up in his head.

She rolls her eyes. "You act like you don't care, but you're head over heels for her and you know it. It scares you, but I don't know why. She's pathetically in love with you. She's practically counting down the seconds until she can see you again."

Mr. Gold lets out a huge sigh. Why is this girl doing this? It's deliriously torturous to hear this stuff. "Okay, that's quite enough," he assures her.

She grins. "Whatever you say, Mr. Gold," she says, "Enjoy your coffee."

She turns and walks back behind the counter, grinning all the while

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The rest of the day passes in a blur, as does Monday.

Now it's 7:17, meaning he only has about a half hour before he can race down to the bar. Unfortunate for him, life can't be as simple as waiting around for 7:45. Someone bangs on his door hard, and he hears a voice yelling, "Gold! I know you're there, open the damned door!"

It's Regina, and that realization doesn't exactly make him want to jump up and open the door, but she continues banging on it and yelling so he decides that whatever it is she wants can't take very long.

"Regina." he says, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

She storms right past him and paces around his house, "Do you think," she spits, "That I don't know what's going on here?"

Gold licks his lips slowly before saying, "No, I'm fairly certain that you know precisely what's going on here, being that what's going on here is my psychotic co-worker parading into my house for what I wish I could say is the first time."

Regina's nostrils flare and she glares harder. "You think I'm a fool, don't you?" she says coldly, "I think you forget, Gold, I have eyes everywhere."

"Do you?" he asks.

"Yes," she says, with perfect articulation, "and I must say that what I see can be quite unsettling."

"I have no idea what you're referring to, dearie."

Regina plants her hands on her hips. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Gold! That stupid whore at the bar? You really thought that I wouldn't find out?"

It takes all his self control not to hit her. "Find out what?" he growls.

"Oh for God's sake, Gold, do I really need to say it!"

While he'd really prefer that she didn't, he's not about to give in. "What I do is my business, Regina. What I ask is, what's in this meddling for you?"

Regina squints her eyes and shakes her head. "You need to stop seeing her."

"Ah," Gold says, "And why might I do that?"

Regina walks around the room slowly. "Because she's a small, innocent girl, and it would be so very easy for something to happen to her. Especially at the hands of a dangerous man."

"Your threats mean nothing to me, Regina."

Her jaw sets and she glares right through him. "You're not going to see her tonight."

**A/N: This was actually meant to be longer, and not as much setup, but I swear I'm going to make up for it in the next chapter. Spoiler Alert: It's gets FLUFFY. **

**And hats off to my reviewers, who predict my plans before I've even set them in motion. Wow!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **I love you guys so much! Seriously, reading the reviews for this story is honestly the best part of my day. Thank you all so much for that.

This chapter was not pre-written, so it's all done right off the bat. Hope you like anyway!

**CHAPTER 8**

"_**It's not a silly little moment, It's not the storm before the calm. This is the deep and dying breath of  
This love that we've been working on."-Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, John Mayer**_

Belle stands behind the bar, waiting. 7:58...7:59...the suspense is killing her.

She has no idea what to expect. She doesn't know what he's thinking, whether or not he really does care. Ruby had said that if he showed up tonight it meant he loved her, but he's _not _here. A dark haired guy waves in front of her face, shaking her out of her thoughts. She jumps a little at the motion.

"Hey there," he says.

Belle smiles, nods, and bites her lip. "Sorry," she says, wiping off the bar with a rag, "Um, what can I get you?"

"4 beers," he says, holding up his hand and indicating the number. She looks off distantly, but she must have had a strange look on her face because he says, "Not that they're all for me," like that's what she'd been thinking.

She reaches under the bar saying "No, I know. I see your friends come here a lot." She glances over at the bar. The blond man and the brunette girl aren't even looking at each other which makes her sigh in frustration. For the love of God, why can't the just admit that they love each other? She hands the beers off the the dark haired guy.

"Thanks," he says, nodding at her and carrying the beers back to the table. Belle places her hands on the table and looks behind her at the clock. It's...8:03. What? She feels a lump rising in her throat but swallows hard and clears her throat. He'll be here. He will.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

"Get out of here, Regina. Honestly, I have places to be."

She narrows her eyes. "Oh, I'm sure you do. Places like that bar down the road. Hm?"

Gold blinks and does his best to keep his composure. "Look. I meet her there every day at 8:00, and it's nearly 8:15. At least let me go to tell her I won't come back." He's lying through his teeth, obviously, he's much too far gone to ever simply stop going there.

Regina shakes her head and smiles wickedly. "Oh no. This is a far easier solution."

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Belle blinks up at the ceiling and swallows again. It's 8:15. Mr. Gold is never late. Either a meteor has hit his house, or he really doesn't care about her.

This is just easier than manning up and telling her that, she supposes. She closes her eyes tightly and tries to calm herself. This is meant to be. She knows that. And when there's that strong of a connection between two people it can't be one sided. She's seen it with Ruby and Archie, she sees it with the two people sitting feet away from her. She's not crazy. He wants to be here.

She tries to console herself with possible reasons he wouldn't be sitting in the empty barstool in front of her. Maybe he cab got t-boned on the way. Maybe there was a car accident and they wouldn't let anyone pass. Maybe he got kidnapped, drugged, and trapped in some crazy guy's house. Maybe it's the meteor thing...

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

"Alright, Gold. I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

"I thought you didn't do that anymore," Gold says in a voice colder than ice.

Regina ignores the comment. "I'll let you go right now, provided you tell her that she's nothing to you. Provided you _never _see her again. I don't think that's too much to ask, do you?"

Gold glares right through her and for a moment he sees pure and simple fear jet across her face. "Why does this matter to you, Regina?" he asks, "You're not in love with her."

Regina laughs—actually it's more like a cackle—loudly. "Oh, and you are?" she asks, and it actually causes him to look away from her.

"Even if I accept your offer," he whispers, "How would you know if I followed through?"

Regina leans in close and says. "The same way I found out you were seeing her. I have eyes everywhere, Mr. Gold. So. The choice is yours. Because if you _do _love her," he swears he sees her grimace at this, "then you have to let her go."

He mulls this over for what feels like an eternity. He would rather die than never see Belle again. Hell, going for a day without her was basically impossible. But at the same time, Regina is an is an idiot, and even if he goes back on the bargain, what's she going to do?

But then there was her argument. If he loves her, he _should_ let her go, and even though Mr. Gold has never been one to play by the rules, but with Belle it almost seems like the right thing to do.

"Fine."

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

"Would you look at that poor girl? She looks like she's about to break down crying," the redheadded girl sitting in the booth across the bar tells her friends.

The tall brunette turns around and takes a look at Belle, who's leaning on her hands and blinking rapidly at the ceiling. "I give her five minutes," she says.

The dark haired guy across from her looks at her oddly. "Five minutes till what?"

"Five minutes before she breaks down sobbing," she responds.

The blond man beside her scoffs at the idea. "Why would she cry? She doesn't have anything to cry about."

The redhead's eyes bug. "You're kidding, right? She ignores everyone in here for that one guy every day and he's not here. Poor thing."

He rolls his eyes. "That's crazy. If I started crying every time the girl I cared about wasn't around then I'd-"

He breaks off the sentence, realizing that his eyes are locked with the brunette's next to him. It's silent at the table for only a second before the dark haired guy says, "Here it comes.." and they all watch Belle take of her apron and fling it behind her before storming off through the tables and into the bathroom.

"You win," the tallest guy at the end of the table says to the brunette, "She was crying."

The redhead shakes her head and sighs. "Hope she's okay..."

The dark haired guy looks at her and says, "Are you kidding? She'll be fine. I'll bet you anything that guy'll be back here tomorrow. He's always here."

"I sure hope so. She looks so crushed."

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Belle looks in the mirror and wipes her eyes. She knows she's being ridiculous, and that August is quite literally going to kill her for just getting up and leaving, but she also knows that she couldn't have stood another second staring at that damned empty barstool and knowing that he didn't show up. Ruby was wrong. Archie was wrong.

And Belle was wrong.

That's what really hurts. The fact that she'd finally convinced herself that he'd be here, that he cared. And she was wrong. He's probably sitting at home right now laughing about how fun it was to have banged the hot bartender.

Unless of course he didn't survive the meteor.

She laughs and her own stupid joke and hears the door to the bathroom open, and sees that tall brunette walk in. "You know they miss you out there," she says to Belle.

Belle laughs and sniffs. "Yeah. I just...I just..."

The girl smiles at her. "I know. It'll be okay. Trust me."

Belle nods. "Of course. I mean, you would know."

She takes a step back. "What? How would I know?"

Belle smiles through her tears. "That guy you sit with every day. I see how you look at each other."

The girl squints at her. "Ted? No, I-"

Belle laughs and shakes her head. "No, not him. The blond one who always looks at you like you're the only thing that—that matters to him," her voice cracks as she says this.

The girls looks away for a long moment. "I-I just came to tell you that your guy's here. He showed up, and he's sitting where he always does."

Belle looks up at her with watery blue eyes. "What?"

"Yeah. So you'd better get out there."

Belle's smiling so hard it hurts, and it's making her cry again. "Thank you," she says, "Thank you so much." she hugs the girl tight, which makes her jump for a second before returning the gesture.

"You're welcome," she says, "Now go. Don't keep him waiting."

Belle rolls her eyes. "Why not? He did that to me."

The girl laughs at her and Belle grins back at her and hurries out of the bathroom. She races past the tables and smiles when she sees Mr. Gold sitting in front of the bar.

At first, that's the only thing she sees, but then she notices August looking irritated behind the bar. Belle scampers over races behind the bar. "Sorry, August," she says, not even looking August as she does so, "I just needed a break. Won't happen again." she picks her apron up from the ground and ties it around her wait.

Whatever shit August says next goes unheard by Belle. All she can see is Mr. Gold, staring off and ignoring the one-sided argument between her and August. Nothing else matters to her in this moment but the fact that he's here.

"Mm-hmm," she mutters in response to whatever it is August is saying, and for once he's the one who storms off in the other direction.

Belle listens to the sound of her own breathing for a long time before she says. "You came," slowly and breathily.

He gives her a small smile. "Of course I did. I told you I'd keep coming back."

"You're late," she says with a laugh.

"I apologize for that."

"Why are you late?" Belle asks.

Gold sighs. "I'm late because my psychotic colleague told me that unless I told you that I didn't love you and never saw you again, then I would never get down here tonight."

Belle blinks slowly. "Oh. So, are you going to listen to them, then?" she asks.

Mr. Gold laughs softly and shakes his head. "Belle, I could hardly survive a single day without seeing you, how on earth could I survive the rest of my life?"

She exhales quickly and nods, looking straight into his eyes.

Then she kisses him. And if she loses her job because of it, it'll be worth it. Because true love is worth it, and more than that, _he's _worth it.

And Belle swears that somewhere in the bar, she hears a chorus of "awwwws".

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

It was C.S. Lewis who once said: "Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives."

And if Belle and Mr. Gold are any indication, he was dead on when he said it.

After that Monday, life passed in a blur. The only thing either of them were sure of is that they were happy. Really happy. Not only did he still show up at the bar each and every day at 8:00, she'd usually wind up finishing her shift early (much to August's dismay, but he had to admit, it was nice to see her so happy.) and going home with him almost every night. She'd also spend her weekends with him, something that she'd made happen all on her own.

It was Saturday, and he'd been at the office all day (Belle wasn't a fan of his job, she always complains about how insane the hours are, and that on weekends and in the middle of the night, he should be at home.) so Belle had decided to go out shopping with Ruby. After all the craziness had happened, Belle actually had money, because even though she finished her shifts early, her bubbly attitude was earning her generous tips, and her happiness must have been rubbing off on August because he was giving her nice paychecks every month, instead of half the time because "she spends the paycheck before she even gets it."

Belle knew exactly why she was here, and Ruby knew it too, even though she acted all surprised when Belle pulled her into a Victoria's Secret, giggling all the while. For once in her life, Belle had been the one who'd begged for a shopping trip, claiming she wanted to the make up for the one she'd missed last month, the night she'd been with Gold for the first time. Ruby had known what she was up to right away, but it was still funny to see Belle try to pick out lingerie, a skill she obviously didn't possess.

"No, you're doing this all wrong!" Ruby had said, taking the boring, beige piece from Belle and hanging it back up on the rack. She circled around for a while before handing Belle and incredibly flashy black, lacy bra saying, "_This _is what you want. He'll be on his knees begging for you."

Belle had blushed and said. "Okay. Okay. Anything else?"

Ruby grinned devilishly. "Yes. Your apron from the bar."

Belle turned completely scarlet at the thought. "Oh God August would kill me."

"August Shmogust," Ruby says, waving off the idea, "Wait for Gold like that and nothing else will matter."

It had taken Belle a long time to decide that it couldn't hurt. So after buying the highest pair of heels Ruby could find, she sneaked into Gold's house using the key she'd seen him hide under the doormat. (something she deemed extremely cliché and uncreative, but he just called it 'classic' and waved her off.) She'd changed into the ridiculous costume Ruby had suggested and sat on his countertop with her legs crossed, waiting for him.

She hadn't had to wait long. She'd started doubting this decision as soon as she heard his key in the door, but when she saw his jaw drop, she grinned from ear to ear and hopped off the counter. "You know," she said, "I've been _incredibly _lonely every weekend by myself, and I really needed to see you."

He was at a complete loss for words so she just continued talking. "And I just figured that you'd be so...tired after work. I'd need to get your attention."

She walked up and kissed him hard on the mouth. "Did it work?" she asked.

"Oh yes," he growled, wrapping his arms around her and unhooking that lacy black bra she'd blown her wages on.

He'd fucked her on the counter and it was better than anything she'd ever experienced. She made a mental note to thank Ruby later.

After that she spent every weekend with Mr. Gold, and he'd somehow gotten out of working. She was suspicious, but decided it wasn't worth it to press the issue. She was just happy to have him there with her.

Belle's father had demanded to know where she'd been going every night and every weekend, claiming she was never home. She'd told him she was seeing someone, and he's demanded to know why he's never met that someone.

"Because you're never here!" Belle had said.

"Neither are you," he'd interjected, "You practically live with this man, and I've never even met him. Are you ashamed of me?"

"Yes," Belle said fiercely, "Yes I am. You a druggie and a drunk, and quite frankly I don't want you to meet anyone I love."

He'd been completely taken aback by the sentence. "I'm sorry, Belle, but you have to let me meet him someday."

"Yeah," Belle scoffed, "You can meet him when we get married!"

After that argument, Belle had shown up at Mr. Gold's house, crying. He'd talked to her and held her all night, and when she woke up in the morning she'd looked up at him and said, "I don't want to back," in a tiny voice.

"Then don't."

Belle nodded. "Kay. Do you mind if I stay here for a while?"

Gold smiled and her and withdrew a silver key from his pocket. "Actually. You can stay as long as you'd like."

She'd kissed him softly and thanked him under her breath.

Her father didn't say a word as she cleared all her things out of the apartment. He didn't even bother to say goodbye when she left.

But honestly, after a week of living with Mr. Gold, she didn't even think about her father anymore. It was wrong, and she should have felt bad, but it was nearly impossible to feel bad when she was so happy.

She was through trying to make other people happy. At this point, there was only one most important person in her life and she was lucky enough to have him all to herself.

**A/N: **Sorry if I got a little too crossover-ish in this chapter, I can't help myself when it comes to HIMYM and Swarkles. Anyway, I really hope you liked. Told you Sparkles believes in happy endings! There is only going to be one more chapter and an epilogue (I know! I'm so sad it's ending!), and I will give 20 bajillion imaginary points to anyone who can guess the ending I've had planned for weeks. I love you all so much! XOXO


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Guys. I'm a liar. There is actually going to be two more chapters and an epilogue, not one. It took a lot of thought, but it just had to be this way. Sorry for lying to you dearies.

Thanks so much for all the positive feedback on this story! It means the world to me, loves!

Also, if you've got songs for me, I love that. Even though my Rumbelle playlist is already forever long, I always love more.

Now, I hope you can forgive me for murdering your teddy bear to create this chapter because it's full of FLUFF (sorry, I only had like 20 seconds to work on that.)

Anyway, this authors note is becoming an authors book so I'm going to stop talking and let you all read.

**CHAPTER 9:**

"_**I really miss your hair in my face, And the way your innocence tastes. And I think you should know this: You deserve much better than me,"-Better Than Me, Hinder**_

For Belle French, it definitely hasn't been the world's best day.

It starts off innocently enough. She wakes up earlier than usual, only to find that Mr. Gold has already left. Just perfect. She trudges into the kitchen and finds a note taped to the refrigerator, which makes her laugh. Has he never heard of _using _the 50 magnets scattered across the surface of the fridge? She looks over the note quickly.

Belle-

Had to run into work today. Surely I'll see you tonight.

-Gold

She sighs and rips the note off the fridge, squeezing it in her fist . So that means an entire day to herself in his giant house. She could call Ruby, but she's really not in the mood for the overly perfect Archie stories. So instead, she slaves over the house, cleaning anything she can get her hands on.

Lucky for her, Gold has a giant bookshelf that covers the entire length of one of the walls. So after a half hour of trying to pick something, she decides to read _Romeo and Juliet_ for the 80th time in her life. It's easier than going through the entire bookshelf. He hadn't even bothered to organize it in any way. Belle decides that if she's ever here alone again, she'll make that her project.

When she looks up from her book, it's already 4:08, and she's got to be at work by 4:30. She marks the page and leaves it on the couch before standing up, grabbing her jacket, and scampering out the door.

For the first time in her life, she's actually early for work. Well, by 5 minutes. But even so, August notices, grinning when he sees her and making his way through tables and over to her.

"Wow, French," he says, "I'm impressed. It isn't like you to be here on time. What's the occasion?"

She rolls her eyes. "No occasion," she says dryly. Her usual bubbliness isn't there today, even though she's still clinging to the fact that she'll see Gold at 8, even though 3 and a half hours is going to feel like forever.

"Do I need to let you off five minutes early for this?" August asks her.

"No, August, it's fine. I just didn't have much to do today."

He nods. "I figured. Gold run out on you?"

"No," Belle says, more fiercely than she'd meant to, "He had to work, that's all."

"Gotcha."

Belle sighs heavily. "Is that all, August? Because I really do need to get to work."

He smiles at her. "Yeah, that's all. Look, I've gotta run. See ya later, French."

August turns around quickly, and totally knocks heads with a blond Belle's seen around the bar. "Oh God, I'm so sorry," he says to her, "Didn't see you there."

The blond's hand is intertwined with the blond guy Belle sees around constantly, which instantly catches Belle's attention. The stupid girl gives August the brightest smile Belle's ever seen. Like he'd just saved a litter of puppies rather than almost given her a concussion. "Don't worry about it," she says, "It's totally fine."

Belle notices the blond guy's four friends standing behind him, and all of them look happy. All except one. One of them looks like someone's just ripped her still-beating heart from her chest.

And that's when Belle notices the glittering rock on that blond bimbo's finger. The color drains from Belle's face and she feels tears stinging her eyes, which is completely stupid. She doesn't even know these people. For all she knows, this is what should happen. It's not her choice who gets to be together but...

_But how could they not know?_ How could their friends not know? How could everyone in the godforsaken bar just stand idly by while true love loses?

They're all walking to their usual booth now, but the brunette girl looks like she's about to cry her eyes out. Belle tries to swallow her rage, but some invisible force causes her to slam her hand onto the bar and say "Shit Goddamn!" louder than she'd meant to. One of the guys sitting at the bar looks up at her oddly, but she ignores him and whips around, pretending to take inventory of the liquor in order to distract herself. So it scares the living shit out of her when her phone starts vibrating in her bra, and she instantly starts damming her stupid, pocketless skirt to hell.

She fumbles around for a good ten seconds, trying to answer her phone. "Hello?" she says, when she finally gets it pressed up against her ear, and her voice comes out all shaky.

"Belle?"

It's Mr. Gold, and that fact alone has the power to make her smile. "Hi," she says, "How are you?"

"Alright, I suppose. But I'm not going to be able to make it out to the bar tonight," he says, and he already sounds apologetic.

"Why?" Belle whines.

"I'm so sorry. I have a...a meeting."

Somewhere in a dark corner of her mind, Belle knows that he's bullshitting her, but she really doesn't have the energy or desire to ask him what he's really doing at eight o' clock tonight. "Fine. Uh, whatever. It's fine. I'll see you when I get home then."

She doesn't wait for his reply before hanging up and turning around again. And, of course, as soon as she does, her eyes land on the group of six to the left of her.

It's going to be a long night.

Even though she doesn't have Mr. Gold there to keep her company that night, someone else does show up. Ruby.

She walks in at 8:15 with the funniest smile on her face and trots right up to the bar, sitting in Gold's stool.

"Hey, Belle," she says.

"Hi, Ruby. What can I do for you?" Belle asks.

"Well, first off, can I get a vodka cranberry?" Ruby asks her, and Belle rolls her eyes at the desperate-middle-aged-lady-drink, "And secondly," Ruby continues, "Guess what I just saw!"

Belle pulls the vodka and cranberry juice off the shelf. "What'd you see, Ruby?"

"Guess!" Ruby presses.

"Why do I have to guess?" Belle demands.

"You just do!"

Belle sighs. "Um, okay. Did you see Archie?"

Ruby shakes her head. "No. I mean, yeah. But that's not the important part."

"I'm not going to guess again, Ruby. Just tell me."

"You're no fun," Ruby informs her. "Okay. Well, it was totally weird because Archie canceled on me tonight, saying he had to do a last minute session for this kid who has his adopted mom and birth mom fighting over him and this poor bastard is stuck between their fighting. Anyway, not the point. So, I was walking home from work and I saw Archie walking with your guy—Mr. Gold. They were just hanging out down the street in that shopping center! How crazy is that?"

"Wow," Belle says, her mind speeding through reasons why Gold would be out on the town with Archie and not tell her about it, "That is crazy."

"But it's also awesome!" Ruby bubbles, "Because if they're friends, that means we can double date all the time, and we can leave them to hang out and we can have a girls night sometime! Wouldn't that be fun? I can even invite Ashley and maybe Emma?"

Belle nods slowly. "Yeah, I guess so. But why do you think Archie didn't tell you where he was going?"

Ruby rolls her eyes. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that we're getting something out of it."

Belle does her best to convince herself that Ruby's right, and that whatever they're doing in a goddamn _shopping center_ of all places can't be that interesting anyway. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

Ruby keeps her there for another hour and half rambling on and on about Archie, and how she thinks her Granny likes him more than she does. And after a story about how he brought flowers for her to the diner, Belle finally says, "Hey, Ruby? I really do have to go. Gold's probably waiting up for me, but we'll talk later okay?"

Ruby downs the last drop of her third vodka cranberry and nods. "Yeah, of course! I'll see you soon. What time do you work?"

"4:30 weekdays as long as August doesn't fuck up my hours," Belle says to her.

Ruby grins and nods. "Awesome," she stands up and grabs her purse, walking out the door while grinning back at Belle.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Belle finds Mr. Gold asleep on the couch when she gets home. He's still dressed, and she instantly feels guilty for making him wait for her.

"Hey," she whispers, trying to close the door as quietly as she can, but it still wakes him up.

"Belle," he murmurs, "Where were you?"

"Work," she says, "Ruby found me, so I was there for a while."

He laughs a little and swings his legs off the couch. "Ruby...she knows Dr. Hopper, yes?"

Belle laughs. "Yes. Yes, that'd be an understatement."

"I figured."

"How was...work?" Belle asks, trying not to show her suspicion.

"Slow. Meeting wasn't worth not seeing you."

She blushes and looks down. "I'm-I'm sorry," she stammers.

He stands up and walks over to her, looking down into her eyes. "Can I make it up to you?" he asks.

Having him so close to her thrusts her mind into a daze. "Make what up to me?" she asks softly.

"I wasn't there to see you. I think that deserves some sort of concellation."

She smiles. "O-Okay. What do I get?"

"You get whatever you'd like."

She bites down on her lip and nods. "Can I ask you a question?"

He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "That depends on the question."

She squints her eyes and shakes her head at him, having none of this treachery. "That's mean," she informs him, "I should at least be able to ask about you."

He looks to the heavens and sighs. "Fine. One question."

She grins and grasps the inside of his suit jacket. "I asked you before and you said you'd tell me. Why are you so distant? What happened to you?"

"Nope, not that one," he says, pointing at her, "We have a deal about that one. Ask something else."

She shakes her head again. "You're ridiculous. You have to tell me sometime."

"Not tonight, dearie."

Belle rolls her eyes. "Okay. How old are you?"

"I'm not going to answer that one. The answer would scare you," he says to her.

She stamps her foot. "You can't say I can ask you one question if you're not going to answer it!" she whines.

He brushes a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiles. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll answer the next one."

She eyes him intently. "Promise?"

"Yes, love, I promise."

When he calls her that her face instantly lights up. She's never heard him say that, and it feels amazing. It's like he's admitting how much he loves her with one simple word. A name. "Okay, Gold. I've got one. What's your first name?"

He opens his mouth to protest but she presses and finger to his lips and shakes her head, "No. You promised you'd answer."

She takes her finger away slowly and waits. "It's not important, Belle," he says.

"Yes it is," she argues calmly. "Now tell me. I'm sure it's not that bad."

He says nothing.

"It can't be anything as bad as what I'm assuming," she coaxes.

He rolls his eyes. "What are you assuming?"

She grins and racks her brain for the most horrible names she can think of. "Hmmm. Is it Oswald? Leslie? Eben? That sounds like Evan after a dentists appointment so I can see why you'd be ashamed."

He laughs. "Funny. No, that's not it."

She taps her foot impatiently. "Well? You have to tell me."

He sighs. "Fine. It's...It's..."

"For heavens sake Gold, would you just tell me!?" she demands. Jesus, she's not even sure this is worth the trouble anymore.

"It's _Rumen_," he tells her, "But honestly, love, no one calls me that."

She's grinning from ear to ear. "I like it," she says, "Rumen. Rum. Can I call you that?"

He rolls his eyes. "Sure, Belle, call me whatever you'd like."

She's still smiling like he's never seen her smile, but he's having trouble enjoying it. She kisses him softly for only a moment before pulling away. "I'm sorry I pried it out of you...Rum," she teases.

He places his hands on her hips. "I'm glad I told you," he says, and it's only a half lie, "You know me better now."

She loops her arms around his neck. "I'm glad you told me, too," she says softly.

He smiles down at her. "We both could use some sleep Belle," he says.

She nods. "Yeah. Yeah, of course. But..."

He waits for her to finish her sentence. Her eyes don't leave his for an instant. "Will you dance with me first?" she asks.

He laughs once. "There isn't any music, dearie."

"That's okay," she breathes.

He pulls her hips closer to his and steps to one side. She exhales and rests her head on his shoulder, swaying with him and breathing against his neck. He doesn't worry about moving her quickly or gracefully, he just steps back and forth with her doing the same. This moment is the greatest perfection either of them has ever known. It's amazing and wonderful. It gives them hope, fuels their dreams.

"Rum?" Belle says softly.

"Hm?" he asks, not even irked by the fact that she'd called him that. Honestly, it suits her to say it. It flows off her tongue almost as if she's _supposed _to refer to him that way.

"I-I love you," she says.

He smiles into the dim light and holds her a little tighter. "Yes. Yes. And I love you too."

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

On Monday morning, Belle wakes up to the smell of coffee. Her eyes flutter open and when she sees that he's not lying next to her she stumbles into the kitchen.

"Good morning," she says, leaning against the door frame.

He looks up at her. "Morning."

"You're making coffee?" she asks, making her way over to him, "Are you going out?"

"Work," he mutters.

"Oh. Should I call Ruby?" Belle asks.

"Uhmm," Gold says. It's kind of like a half-laugh-half-cough, "Actually I think Ms. Lucas has plans today, but I'm fairly certain you'll be seeing her tonight."

Belle gives him the I'm-having-none-of-this look. "Do you know something I don't?"

"Hm?"

She rolls her eyes. "Will I be seeing you tonight?"

"Actually," he says, "I think that Ruby is going to want you all to herself. Just a hunch, but I think it's in my best interest to follow it."

Belle reaches over him and pours herself a cup of coffee. "I'm going to get you for this, you know," she says.

"That's alright. I usually approve of your punishments anyway," Gold teases. He winks at her and she just shakes her head and takes a sip of her coffee.

All through her shift, Belle is watching the door to see if Ruby is going to come flying at her, or maybe walk in slowly and sadly. Or maybe walk in with 20 million dollars. From what Rum had told her, Ruby definitely has something important to discuss.

At 8:15, Belle takes only a moment to wash her hands after spilling whiskey all over herself, and when she comes back, she sees Ruby, quite literally bouncing in her seat. Belle walks around the bar and sees her friend _glowing_ with excitement. Truly glowing.

"Something told me you'd be here," Belle says.

Ruby giggles, "I'm assuming by something you mean Mr. Gold?" she says.

"Dammit," Belle mutters, "Why does everyone know this secret besides me?"

Ruby clenches her eyes shut, still grinning like it's nobody's business and tilts her head up. "Belle I have to tell you something _really _important."

"Yeah, I figured," Belle says, wiping off the bar.

"You remember on Friday, when I saw Gold and Archie walking around town?" Ruby asks.

"How could I forget? You kept me at work an extra hour because of it."

Ruby giggles. Why does she keep giggling? "Well, it turns out that Gold was helping Archie with something. He was helping him...pick out something. For me."

Belle narrows her eyes. "What is it?" she asks.

And with that Ruby flashes her left hand right in front of her face and smiles even bigger (something Belle kind of though was impossible at this point.). Ruby's fourth finger is adorned with a beautiful diamond. Truly beautiful. _Damn_, Belle thinks to herself, _How much do shrinks make, anyway?_

She's kind of in shock. She doesn't know what she expected but it definitely wasn't this. Ruby's engaged? Ruby Lucas? Never in the eight years she's known her would Belle ever have expected Ruby to think about settling down with anyone.

But what Ruby has with Archie is, without a doubt, true love. And even though on Friday Belle had convinced herself that she'd seen true love get shot in the face, Ruby's done what she always does. She's restored hope, and brought a positive energy to everything, and Belle definitely had to thank her for that.

"Wow-Ruby-I-I can't believe..." _I can't believe I'm at a loss for words when I'm not even the one who's engaged_, "I'm so happy for you!"

She leans over the bar and hugs her friends tightly. "Are you freaking out? Are you in crazy wedding-planner mode yet?"

Ruby laughs. "No, not yet. I haven't even had the chance to ask my maid of honor if she's willing yet because she's been to busy freaking out even more so than me!"

Belle grins. "Ruby, I-"

"Are you willing? I don't exactly have any blood sisters or cousins I care about so-"

"Yes! Yes, of course Ruby! Thank you!" Belle smiles and hugs her again.

**A/N: Oh good God that was so much fun! Six pages of fun at 3 in the morning to be exact. I don't want to end this story but...sigh. All good things must pass, right? Next chapter should probably be up next week, or maybe on Friday. Tomorrow I'm going to have a lovely Robert Carlyle movie marathon because we can't get enough of those, right? Anyway, I love you guys! Xoxo!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I can't believe this story is so close to ending it's insane. I don't want to end it, I really don't. **

**However, on the awesome side of life, there are only 44 more days left until the season 2 premiere, which in hindsight is like, FOREVER, but we can make it. I have faith. **

**And without further ado, I bring to you the last actual chapter of "Drunk on You"**

**CHAPTER 10**

"_**Some things are meant to be"-Some Things Are Meant to Be, from 'Little Women'**_

"Can you believe we're here?"

Belle practically jumps out of her ruby-red bridesmaid dress at the sound of the voice in her ear. She turns her head to face him. "Gold," she says. She'd been instructed to call him that in public settings, "You scared me."

He smiles and wraps his arms around her waist, "I'm sorry, love," he murmurs and kisses her cheek softly. She giggles in response.

Ruby and Archie-or, Mr. and Mrs. Hopper as of an hour ago, even though it still sounds crazy to Belle-are standing at the front of the room. Ruby is drunker than Belle has ever seen her, and she's doing that cliché thing where you smear the cake all over the guy's face.

"Ew!" a voice behind them says, and both Gold and Belle turn around to see little Henry Mills-er, Henry Swan? The whole custody thing is honestly too much for anyone to follow.

He's with his mother, his birth-mother, who is laughing hysterically instead of scolding him the way his other mother would have. But the blonde woman shushes her son when she sees the diapproving looks both Belle and Gold are giving them.

"Sorry..." she says to them, "Ruined the moment, I know."

Belle laughs. "No, all your son did was destroy a cliché that was terrible to begin with. Thank you, Henry."

The blond smiles. "Thanks. I'm Emma, one of Ruby's friends. I'm not a wedding crasher, I swear."

"You don't really fit that profile anyway," Belle tells her, "Um, I'm Belle, and this is Mr. Gold."

Emma blinks. Once. Twice. And then again. Her blinks are followed by an incredibly awkward silence which is only broken when Emma mutters, "Gold. Of course," under her breath in a way that she probably doesn't even know that Belle heard her.

"Are you okay, Emma?" Henry asks loudly, "You look really pale."

Emma shakes off the observation. "I'm fine, kid. Just...remembering stuff, I guess," she stammers, and nothing she's saying is making any sense. Thank God Henry doesn't seem at all interested in finding out what she's talking about. This conversation has been awkward enough.

Both Belle and Gold have looks of 'pretty please let us leave now before we die of awkwardness' on their faces, and Emma is nice enough to get the hint. "Okay," she tells them, "Well, I'm just gonna go. Ya know, over there. C'mon, kid."

Henry scampers after his mother and Belle and Gold exhale a sigh of relief. "What in God's name was that about?" Belle asks.

Gold shakes his head. "I have no idea."

And before Belle can continue to press the issue, Ruby and Archie race past them, nearly tripping them both completely. Belle yelps a little and Ruby flashes her a giant smile and throws her arms around Archie's waist, dragging him across the dance floor.

Belle laughs. "Well, at least they're happy," she muses, "How do you know Archie anyway? I mean, it's obvious that you guys are close."

"I think that's a story for another-"

She smacks his arm hard. "No. I'm not putting up with any of that shit today. You'd better tell me, mister," she scolds.

He rolls his eyes. "Fine. Years ago, I was having some...issues, and the person who was causing those issues referred me to Dr. Hopper, saying I should see him for a while. And we wound up becoming more like friends than the whole doctor-patient thing. Is that satisfying?"

"Not really," she tells him, "I don't even know what any of that means. I hardly know you, Ru-" He gives her a stare cold as ice and she corrects herself, "_Gold._ One of these days you're going to have to tell me about yourself."

He kisses the top of her head. "I will soon. I promise."

There is a silence before Belle starts laughing and shaking her head at the couple in the middle of the dance floor. "Honestly," she says, "How did we get here?"

How they'd gotten here was interesting to say the least. Over the past few months, Ruby had been parading Belle with all of her wedding ideas. The dress, the cake, the venue, the guest list...it was crazy. And worse than that, it always kept her from spending time with Rum. She'd actually wound up crashing on top of bridal magazines at Ruby's studio apartment more times than she cared to think about.

But _finally_ about a week before the wedding, Ruby had finally gotten her shit together. Her dress was amazing, and the bridesmaid dress she got for Belle (seeing as how she only had one bridesmaid it was okay to spend extra money on her dress too) was completely stunning, as Rum informed Belle the first time he saw her in it.

They had decided to have the wedding in a town called Farhampton, near New York. But they'd had to change the date last minute because of some stupid boat show that Ruby had insisted on being no where near on her wedding day. Anyway, Ruby had begged Belle to come with her to Farhampton three days before the wedding like her and Archie were, and even though she really didn't want to, Belle was definitely not into the idea of making Ruby a bigger bridezilla than she already was. So she'd gone home and told Rum she was leaving early. He immediately wanted to come with her, and booked them this insanely fancy, expensive hotel near the church. Ruby and Archie were staying there too, until the night of the wedding when they would take off to the Bahamas on their honeymoon, something that immediately got Belle wondering exactly how much money shrinks make these days because it was apparently a hell of a lot more than bartenders.

Either way, Belle had actually found herself looking forward to the fancy hotel and stuff, but she had barely gotten a second to enjoy it (well, that was a bit of a lie. She and Rum had about an hour to enjoy the hotel room one night.) because Ruby was always asking her to come places and check on things to make sure everything was in order no matter how hard Belle tried to convince her that everything was, in fact, fine.

Earlier tonight, when Belle had been with Ruby in her little dressing room (a.k.a. Freakout area) the insane bride finally started to calm down a little.

"Aw, Ruby!" Belle said, getting a little misty-eyed herself, something she was a little ashamed of, having thought of this whole thing as a drag the entire time, "You look so beautiful!"

She did too. Her dress was an eggshell white, and strapless with sparkles all over the top and in the creases of the skirt. The top of it was tight, but the skirt was like a giant fan that went in a circle. It went to her toes, but didn't have a train. (Ruby had given a ton of thought to the train before deciding that she just _knew _that Belle would find a way to trip on it.). Her hair was done up in a swirly Cinderella-like bun with a little tiara-like clip in the front (although Ruby kept saying it wasn't a tiara. For some reason Belle had regretted to listen to, her friend was completely against the idea of a tiara.)

Ruby turned around and looked in the mirror, and Belle instantly saw tears spring to her eyes. "No!" she protested, "You can't cry, Ruby! That makeup lady spent way too long for you to mess it up that fast!"

Ruby nodded quickly and swallowed hard. Both girl stared in the mirror for a long moment before Belle grinned and said, "Okay. You get one more shot of tequila and then we're getting you out there!"

Ruby started laughing, which thankfully stopped her from crying. "I've never been so happy that my best friend is a bartender," she joked.

Belle grinned, "Well, I'm not tonight. I was going to get it from Carl." Carl was the bartender who worked at Pongo's when Belle didn't, and after a lot of begging and more bribing than Belle cared to think about, he was manning the bar tonight.

Besides Rum, Carl was going to be the only guest Belle knew. (although she thought she'd seen the Sheriff's name on the list). Not that it was such a bad thing, spending the entire night with Rum sounded amazing. She just hoped it wouldn't be too awkward that no one at the wedding even knew the maid of honor.

Instead of that tequila shot, Belle had fetched Ruby a glass of wine and giving her the best pep talk she could think of.

The ceremony had been beautiful. The crowd was fairly large, which wasn't surprising. Belle had never pegged Ruby as someone who would want a small wedding. The room had at least a dozen chandeliers hanging around, each one with a-little-less-than-completely-lit circular light bulbs. The minister had been one of Archie's friends, Marco, who Belle swore she'd seen somewhere before, but the pieces didn't come together until after the ceremony when she heard Archie use his full name: Marco Booth. Belle had tried not be enraged or disgusted at the fact that her evil boss's father had initiated Ruby's wedding. She also tried to push the idea that August could possibly the around here somewhere to the back of her mind.

Henry Mills or Swan or whatever had been the ring bearer. Ruby had explained that she didn't actually know any young boys, so Henry had been her only option. It was alright thought. Henry was a very cute ring bearer, and the flower girl, Grace Hatter (Some guy named Jefferson's daughter. Apparently Archie had a friendship with the man that had started with therapy sessions, much like Gold.), had been completely adorable.

The whole thing had gone pretty smoothly, which definitely proved all of Ruby's expectations wrong. No one died and they only had two no shows, something Belle never would have noticed in a million years but Ruby knew right away despite the fact that she barely knew the people.

Anyway, after Carl opened the bar everything got a million times better. Ruby was focused on drinking and dancing rather than pinpointing everything that had gone wrong, and everyone else was having a grand old time too. Although Belle was worried about how many people were going to be doing the walk of shame tomorrow morning.

Gold had seen something incredibly surprising at the wedding, too. David Nolan, but he wasn't with his wife, he was with Mary Margaret. Gold whispered (well actually it was more like just normal talking since the music was so loud) something to Belle about it, and she had wanted him to ask, but he thought it would be better to leave it alone. It was weird to him that David and Mary Margaret were even here, it he really couldn't care less about why they were here together.

But his question was answered anyway when Mary Margaret saw him dancing with Belle a little while later. The girl had made quite the attempt at trying to hide her disbelief that the maid of honor's date for the evening was Mr. Gold.

"Mr. Gold," she called, pulling David's hand over to him, "What on earth are you doing here?"

Deciding to give them a little show, he wrapped his arm around Belle and smiled into her eyes. "I was invited," he said, not even glancing at Mary Margaret or David. However his peripheral vision did give him the power to see them share a look of pure confusion.

"That's, um, good," Mary Margaret said, glancing from Gold to Belle and back again.

"Oh, and Mr. Nolan," Gold said, "I see things worked out in your favor, seeing as how you're not here with Kathryn?"

Everyone can feel the tension rise immediately at the mention of Kathryn's name, and Gold kicks himself for listening to Belle and asking the question to begin with.

"If you count her running off with a fitness coach in Maine as things working out in my favor, then yes. They did," David says flatly, although he had no right to be upset. At least his wife had the decency to run off instead of doing what he did.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Belle said, going for sympathetic, even though Gold could see that look in her eye. The same look she always gives that one booth at the bar, the look she gives Ruby and Archie. It's the 'I-know-you're-supposed-to-be-together' look.

"No, honestly things are much better this way," David said, smiling down at Mary Margaret who nodded in response.

Then after some pleasantries, Mary Margaret and David announced their departure and exited the place.

And now Gold and Belle are standing together on the balcony, watching as Ruby and Archie's limo drives down the road and away from Farhampton. It's kind of amazing. The bank lawyer and the bartender being together at a wedding for the sexy waitress and the shrink. It's definitely not your average fairytale, that's for sure.

Gold places his hands on Belle's shoulders. "Are you ready to go back to the hotel?" he whispers. The balcony is nearly clear now, everyone has been piling back into the reception hall. Belle turns and smiles before kissing him softly. The setting is amazing. The balcony is beautiful and it's just barely sprinkling on them, yet the stars are still glittering in the sky. She pulls away slowly and opens her eyes.

"Yes, I think that'd be nice," she says.

When they make it up to the room Belle grins and shuts the door. "Sorry I made you come," she says, "I know that you're not really into that kind of thing."

He smiles and starts unlacing the back of her dress. "That's quite alright, love. I enjoyed it, actually."

"Liar," Belle teases.

The feeling of his fingers on her skin is like pure electricity and it takes everything she has to turns around and catch his fingers in her hand. "Rum," she says.

"Yes?" he asks, sounding a little upset that she'd stopped him from undressing her.

"I'm tired of waiting. Tell me what happened to you. Please? You said you'd tell me soon, and well, now is pretty soon, I think," she says.

She waits for his rejection. For all she knows, keeping this a secret might mean more to him than the incredible night she's willing to show him despite her tiredness. "Belle..." he says, but he doesn't say no, which she takes to mean that she's on the right track.

"Please?" she says again.

"He nods for a long moment. "Alright."

She is trying so hard to keep from grinning from ear to ear. She's asking about something that was obviously a tragedy, after all, and that probably won't incline him to spill his guts any faster.

"It..." he starts, "It was years ago. I was married to this woman, Lilac-"

"Did you love her?" Belle asks, and immediately wants to clamp her hand over her mouth or take the words back. It was a horrible thing to ask.

"No," he says honestly, "It was just an illusion. I was blinded by her, and I couldn't see who she really was. She was controlling, rude, and she was selfish. Only ever thought about herself. But I couldn't see past what she claimed to be and I ended up married to her. We had a son together, Benjamin. Bae. He was the only thing that kept me married to her, because even though I didn't love her...I loved Bae and I wanted him to be happy. I was convinced that he needed his mother. But I could only pretend for so long, and eventually both Lilac and I knew that our marriage was meaningless. We decided to split...but she wanted Bae. She told me that I couldn't be his parent if I couldn't be her husband. She said that she would be staying with her sister in Sydney for a while," Belle tries not to think about the fact that this woman who had hurt the man she loved more than anything was from her hometown, "and then her and Bae were going to move to Los Angeles. Start a new life there. She would let me phone Bae sometimes, but as time went by, the phone calls were few and far between. I was losing him to her and I knew it. Eventually Lilac just stopped answering my calls, and the last time I spoke to her was when she was in the airport about to catch the flight from Sydney to Los Angeles."

"What happened to her?" Belle asks, and her voice sounds distant even to her, like she's in another world.

"A few days later I got a call from the police saying that she'd died. Hit and run, they said. And as terrible as it it I couldn't...force myself to feel bad about it. It wasn't that I wanted her dead, I just...I almost felt relieved. After they asked me all the proper questions I asked them about her son. And they told me that they didn't know. That they would find him. They said he'd just vanished, and that there was no trace of him at all. They assumed he'd been taken, or that...that he'd been the one who killed her.

"I was so angry after that. My son was only fourteen, and to my knowledge no one had ever taught him how to drive. But more than that he just isn't capable of that. He was always a good person, someone pure of heart like...like you."

It wasn't until he looked at her again that he saw the tears spilling from her eyes. He wanted to hug and kiss her and tell her that it was alright. That she needn't feel sorry for someone like him. He doesn't deserve her, and he definitely doesn't deserve her tears.

"Did you ever find Bae?" she asks, and her voice is shaky the entire sentence.

"No." he tells her, "It was all police investigations from there. The feds were convinced that I'd killed her if not Bae. They searched my house countless times, searching for Bae or maybe the phone number of a hit man. But all the found were empty whiskey bottles. I don't know what happened to Lilac, and I don't even know if Bae is alive. But I'm going to find him. I don't care who took him, I will get him back. I-" his voice cracks on the syllable, "I have to."

He says the last sentence slowly and softly. Instantly, he feels Belle's arms around him and feels her tears soaking his shoulder. He hugs her back and sighs.

"You don't deserve this," she says into his shirt, "You're a good person, and good people don't deserve that."

He hugs her tighter. "I'm not a good person, love," he tells her, "I'd think someone as beautiful and perfect as you are would know that."

"You are a good person," she says and hiccups, "You're the best person I've ever met."

And he stands there, cradling his angel in his arms, shielding her from the torments of his tragedy. He stands with her there for what could have been an eternity, letting her dry her tears on his shoulder.

"Belle," he whispers, "I think you're forgetting something."

She lifts her head slowly and stares at him, "What?" she sniffs.

"You have to hold up your end of the bargain, you know," he says. He's trying to keep his voice strong, even though telling her his dark secrets has rocked him in a way he wouldn't have thought possible.

"W-What was my end of the bargain?" she asks.

"You owe me a favor," he says.

She laughs through her tears and blinks. "Oh yeah. How could I forget."

"You wouldn't," he says, "You wouldn't forget anything. You'd remember all the things I told you even when they didn't matter. Even when you have been listening to someone else, or enjoying your job or making some reasonable tips from the people you ignored. You're amazing that way, Belle French."

She blinks at him rapidly, unable to think of a reason why he's telling her this right now. Her mind is swimming and she isn't quite sure what's going on in this moment.

"You're perfect, Belle. You make me happier than I've ever been in my entire life and I've fallen completely and hopelessly in love with you because of it. From the moment I saw you that's how it was. I've never felt this way about anyone in my life and I need you to know exactly how much you mean to me. You know more about me than anyone in the world. I've told you things I was always afraid to tell anyone. I can't ever lose you. I can't even let a day go by without talking to you because whenever I do that day just isn't worth anything. I'm never going to let a day go by without talking to you, ever again."

She blinks backs the tears that are welling in her eyes again as he slides down on one knee and looks up at her with twinkling eyes.

"Belle French," he says, fumbling around in his pocket and making her laugh for a minute before withdrawing a little black box from it and lifting the lid slowly, "Will you marry me?"

She stares down at the ring. It's got diamonds all around the band, but the one on top is twinkling up at her. She's smiling more than she ever has in her life and in that moment decides to make a mental note to apologize to Ruby for bashing the entire marriage thing for the past few months. The tears comes spilling over her eyes and she sticks her left hand out saying, "Yes, of course! Of course I'll marry you Rum!"

He smiles up at her in a happier way than she's ever seen him smile and carefully slides the ring onto her fourth finger. She looks down at it for only a moment before getting on top of him and straddling him against the wall, kissing him harder and better than she ever has in her life.

**A/N: Is it messed up for me to be fangirling over my own story? Yes, probably. But that's okay! That was so so so so SO fun! And if I can give you all any advice, do not try writing that while listening to "Poison and Wine" by the Civil Wars because you will cry. Trust me on that. **

**The epilogue shall come later. Perhaps much later because I just don't want this story to end. But right now I need to go to bed! It's nearly two in the morning and I started this at ten thirty! Hope you all liked, leave your reviews! Love you dearies so much xoxo!**


	11. Epilogue

**A/N: **Wow. I cannot believe I'm writing this epilogue right now, it's literally insane. I worked harder on this story than any other and the fact that it's ending seems impossible.

Thank you everyone who's stuck with me through this, and everyone who jumped on board halfway. Each of you hold a special place in my heart.

So enjoy this last gift, as a token of my gratitude.

**EPILOGUE**

"_**Love grows cold, blood, tears, and gold won't make it any better. I'll never let you down"-Blood, Tears, and Gold, Hurts**_

_Sometimes hours can feel like minutes, and sometimes a single second can last a lifetime. _

There were a million moments like this in the lives of Belle and Mr. Gold. Love does that sort of thing to you, changes time. And time had never gone faster or slower in the eight years they had been married.

The wedding had been simple. Belle had wanted none of the insanity Ruby went through. Instead, they were married at the church down the road by August's father, Marco. The only guests had been Ruby and Archie, and funny enough, Belle's father. She'd insisted that they invite him, but she hadn't expected him to actually show up. Rum had been incredibly understanding with her, even going as far as to ask why she didn't say he lived so close, claiming he would have asked for Belle's father's blessing.

They'd also both agreed to invite David and Mary Margaret, for old time's sake. At first the idea sounded ridiculous to both of them, but seeing as how they were lacking in guests anyway, it had turned out this way.

The idea of inviting Regina Mills was a complete joke that had come up when Gold mentioned that she was the entire reason he had walked into Pongo's that first night. Belle had found this funny and said that they should thank her, and they did. About a week after the engagement, they'd knocked on Regina's door and Belle greeted her with a smile, a hug, and a "Thank you so much, Regina. This never would have happened without you!" And even though both Belle and Mr. Gold could tell it only pissed off Regina, they called it burying the hatchet and now Ms. Mills has definitely left them both alone.

August had also come to the wedding as well, and with him came Belle's apology. She'd discovered about a month before the wedding that he had a bone disorder which was killing her, and she realized that hating him had done her no good. Sure, she'd said he was dead to her, but now that it was a reality she knew that the best thing she could do for herself was apologize for being such a bitch the entire time she'd known him. It wasn't exactly the silver lining of her wedding seeing as how it had forced her to tears at the reception when August hugged her and whispered "I'm sorry too, French" in her ear. And honestly, the tears in her eyes weren't tears of sadness. She felt lucky that she had the opportunity for redemption. He could have died a month before and she would have lived her whole life knowing all she ever did was hate him until his death.

The whole thing was part of the reason she quit her job within four months. August was barely breathing by then and it was too painful for her to see every day. She had talked to Rum about it, and he was all too eager, claiming that money was not an issue in any way.

And the day that she'd left, something incredible happened. She was just walking out of the bar when she butted heads with someone who was walking in.

"Oh, Gods, I'm so sorry!" Belle exclaimed, holding her head.

A laugh tinkled above her. "It's totally fine, don't worry about it," a female voice said.

Belle looked up slowly and met the hazel eyes of the brunette girl who sits at the booth in the corner. Belle slowly took her eyes off the girl and moved them to the left, where the blond man was standing, then her eyes fell to the space between them when their hands were intertwined. The brunette girl winked at Belle. "Honestly," she said, "It was my fault. I guess I just didn't see what was right in front of me."

When she got home, Rum asked her what happened to her head and why she was smiling.

And then of course there was everything else. After Ruby had gotten back from her honeymoon, she'd practically rung out Belle's neck for not calling her since Gold had proposed, and it had taken a lot of negotiation to convince her that it was a better idea than interrupting her honeymoon.

Belle's honeymoon had been amazing to say the least. She had said over and over that she didn't want to spend a bunch of money on a wedding night she probably would hardly remember from drinking so much, so they had spent the money on the honeymoon instead. He'd taken her to Paris. It was a place where neither of them had ever been, and neither of them spoke the language so Belle saw it as an adventure. She had always wanted to go to the craziest restaurants they could find, and seemed bored by many of the more touristy things, even skipping out on the Eiffel Tower. She wanted to fit in with the locals as much as she could, going to little coffee shops and shopping centers that were beyond the touristy part of the city.

And even though pastries and exploring and picking up on a little french was lovely, none of it compared to how her nights were spent. Rum would always have a bottle of wine ready for her from the little wine shop down the street from the hotel, but it had been incredibly easy for her to get distracted from the idea of just drinking and talking what with him always playing with her hair and calling her "Mrs. Gold." She'd gone lingerie shopping with Ruby again before the wedding, but instead of taking her friend's crazy advice, she'd simply picked out a blue night slip, and the assumption that it would be enough proven correct in the week they spent in the city of love.

Perhaps it's love that changes time because years felt like seconds and seconds felt like hours over eight years.

They had only been married two months when Belle found out that she was pregnant. Being six weeks late, it had not been a tough thing to discover for her, but she'd been terrified of telling Rum, convinced it wasn't what he wanted.

She actually confided in Ruby first, who was instantly ecstatic.

"That fast?" she asked, "Damn, I've been trying for six fucking months!"

Belle rolled her eyes and sighed. "That isn't what I asked, Ruby. What am I going to tell Gold? He doesn't want this!"

Ruby's eyes widened. "What are you saying? Of course he does, you're married! That's what marriage means you dingbat!" Belle jumped at the unappealing nickname.

"But-" she said.

"Look," Ruby told her, clasping her hands in hers over bar, it had only been two months so she was still working at Pongo's, "He's going to be happy! I mean, what guy is going to complain about his wife being extra horny for nine months?"

"Ruby!" Belle said, "that isn't the part I'm worried about, okay!"

Ruby laughed and shook her head. "Obviously. What are you worried about then?"

Belle wanted so badly to tell Ruby about Bae at that moment, but she knew that she couldn't. Her husband trusted her with that. It was something he'd never told anyone and she wasn't going to change that if she could help it. "I...I don't know. I guess I just don't want him to know yet."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Well he's gonna know, so just tell him now. He'll be happy, I promise."

Even though she was definitely encouraged by Ruby's words, it had taken her a day to finally tell him, and after she'd stammered out the impossible words, "Rum, I...I'm pregnant," he'd laughed at her.

"I was wondering when you planned on telling me," he said, causing Belle's jaw to hit the floor and her eyes to bug out like crazy.

"You _knew?" _she asked, completely unable to believe it, "How?"

He smiled. "You've been sleeping nearly twelve hours a day, eating all the food in my fridge, and getting sick one moment then being fine the next," he gave her an 'oh, honey' sort of look, "It wasn't hard to figure out."

Belle blushed. "So you're...you're okay with this?"

"Are you okay with it?"

She looked up at him and said sincerely, "I'm happy about it."

"If you're happy then I'm happy," he said.

She'd wanted to ask about Bae, but decided not to. She knew it was not something he cared to discuss when they should have been rejoicing, and this was only implanted further when he started saying how much he hoped it was a girl.

Belle knew that she was going to love the crap out of whatever baby she had, but agreeing with Rum was probably a good idea, so she just grinned and said, "I hope so too."

By the time she was starting to show, and August clearly only had weeks left at the most, it became apparent that she needed to quit her job. She was going to have another life to take care of now, and working at a bar wasn't going to cut it. Plus, Rum had money from his job, and her father said that he would pay her to work at the flower shop whenever she felt that she needed to.

As it turned out, Rum had been right about their baby, it was in fact a girl. When the doctor had asked her if she wanted to know, her answer had been easy. She didn't want to go through the issues of guessing between pink and blue at the store, or fussing over names, being disappointed when she wasn't able to use one, so she'd said yes, and when the doctor, Dr. Whale, said that it was a girl, Belle saw the smile light up Rum's face instantly.

She'd been born on August 15th, and they had decided to name her Clara. Or rather, Belle had decided. Rum had given her full liberty with name choosing, and the name had just come to her while holding her daughter.

Now, what is seven years later but feels like seven minutes, almost nothing has changed.

August had died in April, three weeks after Belle had quit her job, and she'd insisted on going to the funeral. It had been quiet and simple, and the day after she'd gone to Pongo's and found Marco sorting through his son's things. She gave him a bouquet of flowers and apologized again, saying it wasn't fair for anyone to lose their child.

She hasn't gone back to Pongo's since then. Honestly the place had begun to feel a little haunted by all the memories it held, the good ones and the bad ones, but she still ends up walking past the place whenever she goes anywhere, and now there's a plaque on the brick windowsill, saying it is in memory of August W. Booth. And even though he had terrorized her and been a nuisance, it always makes her tear up a little.

But even with that tragedy, Belle Gold has very little to complain about. She has an incredibly strong marriage and a beautiful daughter. Clara is seven now, and in the second grade. She is every bit as beautiful as anyone could have imagined. Dark curls like her mother that are soft like her father's hair, and her eyes are the very same color as Rum's, a pure hazel. She is curious and clumsy, but smarter than any of the other children around her.

When they'd gone in to see Clara's teacher, who funny enough, was Mary Margaret, (The Golds had known that she became a school teacher after being fired from being David's secretary all those years ago, but hadn't a clue she had changed from teaching fourth grade to second, so it was a shock for them to see her in their daughter's classroom.) Henry Mills-Swan, the now seventeen year old boy, had been there, helping Mary Margaret by order of his mother, Emma.

Belle has always seen Gold's soft spot for Henry, but on that particular day, her husband had spent the entire conference chatting away with the boy while Belle tried her best to keep Mary Margaret occupied and talking about Clara, who had been dragged along due to the lack of affordable babysitters in New York.

On the drive home, it was Clara who asked, "Papa, why were you talking to Henry for so long? Didn't you want to hear what Mrs. Nolan said about me?"

Belle eyed her husband, waiting for his answer since she'd been wondering the very same thing. "Henry is a smart boy, he had a lot of things to say," Gold said simply, not taking his eyes off the crowded street.

Clara folded her arms across her chest. "His mama doesn't like me," she informed her parents.

Belle shook her head. "That's nonsense. Emma likes you very much, sweetheart."

"Not Emma," Clara said, shaking her head, "His other mama, the scary one that looks like an evil witch!"

Gold snorted and Belle couldn't help but laugh along with him for a moment. "Now, now, Clara," she scolded, "Ms. Mills isn't an evil witch."

"Yes she is," Gold muttered, "say what you like about her Clara, I don't mind."

Clara giggled in a wicked, childlike way and Belle rolled her eyes and looked to the roof of the car. "I would say shame on both of you, but I'd be lying."

Night fell and just before Belle went to sleep she asked, "Rum? Tell me, why do you like Henry so much?"

He said nothing for a moment. "He...he reminds me of...of..."

Belle sat up, "Bae," she finished, "I see. Sorry I asked."

"No, no," Rum said, "It's just that he truly does remind me of him. He always has...I can't help but wonder..."

Belle nodded along with his every word and suddenly pieces clinked together in her mind. At Ruby and Archie's wedding, the way Emma had said Gold's name, like she was remembering something. "You think Henry could be...Bae's son?"

Rum looked down and shook his head. "I don't know. Perhaps I'm just seeing what I want to see." He kissed her forehead and sighed, "It doesn't matter though. I have everything I need."

And as much as she wanted to believe that, she knew it wasn't true and she took that knowledge with her to the Sheriff's station the following day, leaving Clara with Henry. (something that had cost her more money than it should have since she had unwillingly torn the boy away from Grace, the flower girl from Ruby's wedding who she could see Henry definitely had a thing for.)

When Emma saw her walk in she immediately looked away from the dartboard on the wall and started rustling papers around, "Hey, Belle, sorry, place is a mess. Is something wrong?"

Belle walked into the office slowly, "Um, no not really. I take it the crime rate's down though."

Emma laughed. "Yeah, it is. So what brings you over here? Is Henry okay?"

Belle couldn't help but be touched by the fact that Emma still thought of her son as a ten year old with a wild imagination and not a seventeen year old who reminded Mr. Gold of his son. "Henry's fine," Belle assured Emma, "He's with Clara actually. Regina must be doing something else because he was just hanging out with that Grace girl."

Emma nodded. "Jefferson's kid, right. That's cool, I guess."

It wasn't cool. Emma and Jefferson had been on and off forever and ever and the fact that their kids were friends didn't help when they always decided to stay away from each other for real this time. "Yeah," Belle said, "Listen, Emma, I wanted to ask you something."

Emma plopped down in her desk chair and sipped her coffee. "Okay, shoot," she said.

"Who's Henry's father?"

Silence. Complete silence took over the room and Belle blinked and started wishing she could take back the words. "I-I'm sorry, I just-"

"No," Emma said slowly, "It's fine, really, I just...don't usually like to talk about that."

Belle nodded. "Yeah. But would you? I'm just curious because-"

"Did your husband put you up to this?"

The look on Emma's face wasn't a nice one, and Belle instantly put her hands up saying, "No! No, he didn't. Why would he?"

Emma shook her head and stared down at the desk. "I don't know, it's stupid."

"Will you tell me his name?" Belle asked, "I'm not going to try and find him or anything, I just-"

"Yeah, you are. You are going to try and find him. You're lying and I know it. I can tell."

Of course she could. Emma was very good a voicing the idea of her selective superpower that unfortunately seemed to work on Belle. "Please, Emma," she said softly, "Tell me his name."

Emma blinked. Once. Twice. And then she looked straight into Belle's eyes and said, "Baelfire. That's his name."

She'd thought about just not telling him. After all, it might have been better just to keep the mystery alive. But she knew that wasn't going to solve anything, so after stopping by Regina's and overpaying Henry, she set Clara in front of a book and rushed Rum into their bedroom explaining what had happened.

The tears in his eyes were impossible to miss and she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight against her. "It's alright, Rum," she whispered, "Really, it's a good thing."

He nodded against her shoulder. "Emma didn't say anything else?"

"No. She didn't want to talk about it."

He didn't say anything about Bae after that, he just stayed in her embrace for as long as he could manage.

The subject hasn't been brought up since, but the Golds have been making an effort to get closer to Henry. After all, Mr. Gold is his grandfather, not that he knows it. Emma obviously doesn't want anyone to know anything about her past, so for the time being, they don't. Lucky for them, Clara likes Henry too. She always follows him around and listens to his crazy stories about fairytales and such. Plus, the fact that he takes her out around town a lot doesn't hurt matters much.

And everyone is happy. For the most part, anyway. Obviously, life will always have it's little disappointments, but for Belle they were few and far between. She has her husband and her daughter and to be quite honest she knows that's all she's ever going to need.

Few people have what she does. A brilliant friend in Ruby, a good home, and true love. It is strange to think that all this came from her working behind a bar in New York City, but it's also kind of wonderful. Everything in her life happened for a reason, and it has always been leading up to what she has now.

Which is why today she has decided to go back to Pongo's for the first time since the day after August's funeral. She had never given back her key, and she had called up Henry earlier asking him to watch Clara tonight. Then she had scrawled out a note asking Rum to meet her here.

The bar is closed despite the fact that it's only about eleven. But Marco is an old man, and there hasn't been much business lately anyway. But Belle unlocks the door and waits behind the counter in her little shorts and apron paired with a low cut top and sandals, feeling the deja vu wash over her.

And as if on cue, the bell above the door dings and she turns to smile at her husband.

"Good evening, Mr. Gold," she says softly.

He smiles at her. "Good evening."

She grins back at him and flutters around. He turns and walks behind the counter until he's right next to her, breathing against her hair.

"You're not supposed to be back here" she informs him breathily.

He laughs. "That's alright. I've done it before and I didn't get into too much trouble."

She exhales unsteadily. "No, you didn't," she agrees, reaching down and shuffling through dishes.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

She doesn't answer, instead she just grins and pulls out a cup from the cupboard she'd been rustling through. She holds it up for him to see. "Look familiar?" she asks.

He nods and smiles. "Very much so," he says, clasping his hands around hers and the cup she'd chipped. Then he takes it out of her hands slowly and sets it onto the bar and pushes a strand of hair behind her ear before kissing her slowly and tenderly, the same way he had so many years earlier.

He is not aggressive with her, nor does he seem rushed in the way he kisses her. He just holds her there, knowing that they have forever ahead of them. He chose her because he knows that she is the one thing holding him to this earth in this moment. That she's everything he has ever wanted in his life and that he could never live without her.

"I love you," she breathes, "So much."

He lets her go for only a moment, letting himself drown in her bright blue eyes and tells her, "Yes. And I love you too."

**THE END**

**A/N: Guys. Guys. I cannot believe it's over I really can't. I mean...wow. And what a week to end on, too. I hope you all have been enjoying those set photos as much as I have! **

**Anyway, I thank you for sticking with me. I was a little drunk when I wrote this so I'm sorry if some of it's totally insane or something. **

**I love you guys to death! Thank you all so much!**


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